Things Don't Always Work Out The Way We Intend
by hyperin
Summary: Sometimes we need to let the cards fall as they will.
1. Chapter 1

I wish I owned Harry Potter and the characters. Also, the Phelps twins. Please don't tell me I'm stealing—I'm just slightly infatuated. Title sums up both the plot, but also how my OC seemed to get away from me and write her own story.

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Charlie Weasley paid no attention to anyone else while he was at King's Cross Station with his family. Fred and George were being difficult, Ron and Ginny were being cranky, Percy was being snotty, and his mother was getting frazzled. They made it on to Platform 9 ¾, were kissed wet goodbyes by their mother, and Charlie could finally lose his little brothers. After spending ten minutes with the prefects, he went to see if there were any empty compartments available. He waved to everyone he knew, but he didn't feel like being surrounded by the people who called themselves his friends. Finally finding an empty car, he fell back on to one of the familiar seats and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello," a well dressed girl with light brown hair and dark eyes was smiling at him from across the car.

"My god," Charlie nearly jumped out of his skin. "I didn't think anyone was in here."

"I'd noticed," she continued smiling and closed her book. "You're welcome to stay, though. Are you feeling well?"

"Thanks," he gave her a brave smile. "I'm fine; it's just nice to be going back to Hogwarts."

"I understand," she nodded sympathetically. "I mean not going back to Hogwarts specifically, this is only my first year, but just getting away from the hectic atmosphere at home."

"Yeah," he straightened up in his seat. "So, you excited about your first year at Hogwarts?"

"I think so, I think a part of me is nervous, but most of it's excitement," she straightened the thin glasses on her nose.

"Are you the first in your family to go to Hogwarts?" he tried this tactful approach.

"Do you mean am I muggle-born, pure-blood, or half-blood?" she replied perceptively.

"Yeah," his tact was uncomfortable and her frankness was refreshing.

"I'm a pure-blood," she grimaced as though that was a fact she wasn't proud of. "Generations of my family have been attending Hogwarts. You?"

"I'm a pure-blood, too. What family are you?" he inquired.

"Burke," she looked even more pained by this statement. "Darcie Burke," she extended a pale hand.

"Charlie Weasley," he shook it awkwardly.

"Please don't leave," she put in hastily. "I'm not like the rest of my family."

"Hey, I wasn't planning on leaving after we were talking anonymously, your name doesn't mean a thing to me," he told her this mostly to make her feel better, but he realized it was true.

"If you thought it did mean something, you'd be almost as bad as my family," she told him.

"For the record, you said that," he grinned.

"Gladly," she laughed, sending shivers down his spine. "What year are you going in to?"

"Six," he relaxed. "I'm Quidditch captain for Gryffindor."

"That's incredible," he searched her face for signs of mockery, but found only awe. "I've been learning how to fly, so I don't make a fool of myself in front of everyone, but I think I'm afraid of heights. Or, more accurately, afraid of falling from heights."

He laughed with her. "Don't worry, you just need to get used to it," he assured her.

"Did you like it the first time you flew?" she asked earnestly.

"Can you keep a secret?" he waited for her to nod. "Good, the first time I flew, I fell of the broom and nearly crushed my little brother."

"Oh gosh," she looked concerned.

"He wasn't hurt," he waved his hand dismissively.

"You have a little brother?" she inquired politely.

"Actually four younger brothers, one older brother, and a younger sister," he informed her.

"Wow," she raised her eyebrows. "I guess I can see how Hogwarts must be a haven for you."

"Are you an only child?"

"Yes," she sighed.

"I'll be right back," he promised, getting up and leaving the car.

"Sure," she nodded and returned to her book.

"Darcie," Charlie stuck his head back in.

"Yes?" she looked up, smiling.

"I have some people I want you to meet," he was followed in to the car by two twin boys who looked remarkably like him and a dark skinned boy.

"Hello," she looked at them politely.

"Darcie Burke, two of my little brothers, Fred and George Weasley, and their friend, Lee Jordan," Charlie indicated the boys should sit down and they did: Charlie across from Darcie, Lee on one side of Charlie, Fred or George on the other side, and George or Fred next to Darcie.

"Are you really a _Burke_?" the boy next to Darcie asked.

"Yes," she blushed.

"You don't seem like a _Burke_," his twin interjected.

"Shut up, you two," Charlie ordered. "Darcie's going in to your year and I want you to be hospitable to her, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the boy next to Charlie saluted. "Fred and I will do everything in our power to make sure her stay at Hogwarts is pleasurable and enjoyable."

"You the boss, Chuck," Fred grinned.

"You, too, Lee," the oldest boy rounded on his brothers' friend who had so far been quiet.

"Absolutely, Charlie," he nodded.

"Good," Charlie stood to leave. "Listen, Darcie, I promised some friends that I'd go and sit with them; think you'll be okay with my brothers and Lee?"

"Of course," she nodded. "Thanks, Charlie," she smiled up at him.

"It's no problem, I'll see you at the feast," he told them and left.

"I'm sorry, which one of you is Fred and which one is George?" she turned her wide eyes on them.

"George," the one now occupying Charlie's seat chirped.

"Fred," his brother, still next to her, chimed in. "And you're _really _a Burke?" he examined her doubtfully.

"Yep," she told them dismally.

"Well, we'll just call you Darcie and no one will ever need to know," George came up with a solution.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed, grinning. "Are you Charlie's youngest brothers?"

"Nah," Fred shook his head. "Bill's the oldest, he's already finished school and he wants to work at Gringotts; then Charlie, you've obviously met him; Percy's after him, he has something shoved up his rear; then us, of course; Ron, he's the baby boy; and Ginny, the only girl."

"It must be tremendous having five brothers and a sister," she exclaimed.

"Not really. It's the best to have a twin, though," George grinned mischievously. "You can always swap places and no one can ever tell."

"Except at Christmas," Fred pulled a face.

"Why?"

"Because Mum always gives us jumpers with our first initial on them," George explained.

"You lot had best be getting your robes on," Charlie had returned to get his trunk.

They all managed to get tangled in their robes, but, with the assistance of everyone else, they were all straightened out eventually. The rest of the train ride was in a sickly silence contemplating what they all knew was coming.

"What house do you think you'll be sorted in to?" Lee asked to break the tension.

"My entire family's been in Slytherin," Darcie reported glumly. "So my auntie _hopes_ I'll be in Slytherin, but I don't think anyone knows for certain."

"Well, our family's the same, but with Gryffindor," Fred put in. George, by the pasty look on his face, didn't appear to want to add anything.

"I hope to be in Gryffindor," Lee agreed. "I guess Ravenclaw wouldn't be so bad, but Hufflepuff, to quote my dad, 'would bring great shame on our family', so I dunno what I'll do if I get sorted there. And Slytherin would probably be just as bad, no offense."

"None taken," Darcie looked too preoccupied to be offended.

Darcie was thrown in to George's lap as the train came to a stop and as they were picking themselves off the floor, they saw a large man herding other first years. The four of them hurried after him and managed to get a boat to themselves. Lee proved useless with a paddle and Fred kept assaulting George with his, but Darcie and George somehow got them to the shore.

Charlie was chatting with his friends who also had siblings coming in to their first year when McGonagall led their topics of conversation in. All the kids looked nervous as they surveyed the room. He could pick out his brothers as they jabbed each other in the back trying to make the other one nervous. Lee Jordan was whispering something to someone a few people behind him. His companion turned away from him and turned her eyes on the crowd. They connected with Charlie's and he smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

The first person to be sorted was a surly looking boy with dark hair whom Charlie privately thought would end up in Slytherin, but was sorted into Ravenclaw and then it was Darcie's turn. Darcie, who Charlie had assumed on the train was naturally pale, appeared almost completely bloodless as she waited in line. She looked like she was trembling slightly as she approached the stool to place the hat on her head.

The hat took a long time deliberating and Charlie could see her hands were shaking in her lap. Lee had his fingers crossed as he watched. Fred and George were looking at her intently and they all seemed to let out a collective breath when the hat yelled, "Gryffindor."

"Congratulations," Charlie clapped her on the back as she sank in to the seat next to him. Some familiar names were called, sorted in to a house, and then Lee joined Gryffindor. Charlie grinned at Lee as he took a seat across from him. There were a few names Charlie didn't recognize, a girl was put in Gryffindor, and another boy. There were many people to be sorted before the twins were going to have their turn and Charlie, Darcie, and Lee were waiting impatiently. They were silent while Fred put on the hat and was sorted in to Gryffindor, they roared, and the noise almost doubled when George followed him. The twins fell in to seats next to Darcie and Lee.

"Mum and Dad will be so proud," Charlie told them and they pulled faces at him.

"Your family will, mine will be disappointed," she told them, but her mournful tone was betrayed by her giant smile.

"At least the hat didn't yell out Squib," George told her brightly.

"Good point," she giggled.

"I didn't realize 'til right now just how hungry I am," Lee exclaimed as food appeared in the dishes in front of them.

"It's from the nerves" Charlie said sagely.

"Is the food here always this good?" George wondered filling his mouth with it.

"Most of the time," Charlie nodded.

"I've heard so much about this place," Darcie looked around the room. "I just never thought it would be this big."

"You get used to it," Charlie assured her. "But for your first couple of days, I'd stick together, things tend to transform right before your eyes."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lee eyed the table suspiciously.

"Don't worry, the tables stay the same," Charlie chuckled.

Dumbledore stood up, addressed the students, the food was cleared away, and the students filed out of the Great Hall.

"See you in the morning," the boys watched Darcie follow her peers up to the girl's dormitory.

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Charlie had dreams of Darcie all night long and woke up with her still on his mind. He smiled at the other boys in his room and walked down to the Common Room with them, not thinking once about her. Nodding at his brothers, he climbed out through the portrait hole.

"Hi, Charlie," Darcie mouthed at him from down the table.

"Hey," he waved.

"What are you doing, Charlie?" Arielle demanded from across from him.

"Just saying hi to a friend," he told her and turned around.

"Hi, River," she wiggled her fingers at the boy who looked back at her in wonderment. Charlie snorted in to his oatmeal.

"Hey, Arielle," River raised his hand.

"Isn't that your family's owl, Charlie?" she pointed at the tired looking owl swooping in.

"Probably my parents congratulating my brothers," he shrugged.

There was an audible gasp from some girls at the Hufflepuff when a beautiful black owl dove at the Gryffindor owl. Darcie fed it a bit of her breakfast, took the letter from its leg, and sent it off.

"A congratulatory letter from my aunt," she informed her friends unhappily.

"Charms first, boys," Fred reported looking up from his schedule. Darcie coughed delicately. "And Darcie," he added diplomatically.

"Do you guys know any spells?" she looked at them worriedly.

"Not many," George shook his head.

"Good, neither do I," she helped herself to a piece of fruit.

"You're not supposed to know spells, that's why we're here," Lee pointed out.

Darcie laughed and nodded. "I think what Darcie's trying to say is: What kind of pinhead doesn't know everything about magic before they come to Hogwarts?" George grinned. "But I'm paraphrasing."

"Paraphrasing?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You know; changing a couple of words around," he elaborated.

"I know what it means," she smiled. "I just don't think it means the same thing as making up an entirely different statement."

"Of course it does," he nodded and stuffed a forkful of eggs in her mouth.

She looked surprised and coughed them down. "You're so mature, George."

"Thank you, I get it from my brother," he pointed at Fred who was sticking utensils in his ears.

"I can tell," she laughed and George felt his stomach fall to the floor like it did every time she laughed.

He opened his mouth to say something, but as he was talking, the Great Hall got even noisier with the scraping of seats as everyone stood to go to class.

"Good luck, you guys," Charlie grinned at his brothers and their friends as he walked by with Arielle.

Arielle kept passing Charlie notes through their first class, so he was glad when she went off to Arithmancy and he to Care of Magical Creatures. The rest of the morning went smoothly, but every time he saw his brothers in the corridors, he looked for Darcie who he knew must be with them, maybe just lost in the throng of people.

Right before lunch, Arielle was off with her other friends, Charlie spotted Darcie. She was alone with her nose in a book. Everything in Charlie was advising him to go up to her, but he decided against it and kept walking. She passed him a few minutes later, hurrying to the Great Hall, running backwards from Fred and George. Her eyes lit up as she waved at him, she smiled, and kept running.

"Hey, Chuck," George slapped him on the back as they too passed him. Lee nodded at him silently and tried to catch up to Fred, George, and Darcie.

"Will they ever grow up?" Percy sniffed watching their brothers charge off.

"Doubt it," Charlie grinned.

"Who is that charming girl keeping company with them?"

"You make it seem like they're having a giant orgy every time they're alone. Anyway, that's Darcie," he shrugged.

"Yes, well," Percy went red and walked off.

"Hey, Baby," Arielle joined Charlie as he meandered thoughtfully towards the Great Hall.

"Hi," he started at her touch.

"You look a million miles away, Sweetie; is everything okay?"

"Everything's great," he kissed her.

Later that night in the Common Room, Charlie saw Darcie sitting in a corner with the twins and Lee working on homework. Admittedly, it was Darcie working hard on her assignment, while Lee looked confused and snuck glances at the girl's paper, and Fred and George were joking around. Arielle had gone to bed early that night and Charlie felt a little lonely so he moved over to the knot of First Years. Darcie's grey eyes searched his face.

"Hi, Charlie," Lee grinned. "All alone? It doesn't look like we're all going to finish up here. You realize, she wants to do two years of school in one and it looks like the three of us are going to have trouble doing one in one!"

"You're doing two years in one?" Charlie glanced at her.

"Yes," she nodded. "I had a chat with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall today about it. I can do all my History of Magic and Transfiguration work out of class and while you guys are in those classes I'm going to take Second Year classes in Potions and Herbology. So, next year I'll be in Third Year."

"That's incredible," Charlie exclaimed at the same time Fred demanded, "why?"

"I want to be able to finish as quickly as possible," she explained. "My great aunt won't be around forever."

"Your great aunt?" George wondered.

"Well, I live with my Great Aunt Zelda. She's about ninety-six and she's raised me. I need to be able to be by myself if, heaven forbid, anything happened to _her_."

"You don't live with your parents?" Lee asked.

"I can't. I don't even know who they are. Apparently my mum left me with Auntie Zelda—she's never told me why. I don't even have my mother's last name," Darcie shrugged, "Auntie thought it would make life easier if I had the last name of Burke instead of whatever it was before. None of the family knows who my mother is."

The boys just looked at her in disbelief—first she told them she was planning to do two whole years of schooling in a single year, and then she told them she lived with her great aunt and didn't know who her parents were. Charlie was amazed at how simply she could tell them all of these intimate details about herself; George was floored at how calm she seemed about the whole situation; Fred and Lee were gaping at each other. Percy came over and held out his hand to Darcie.

"Percy Weasley."

"Hi," she stood and beamed up at him, "I'm Darcie Burke."

"Darcie's going to try to do all the work for First and Second Year in this one year," Charlie knew that piece of information would help Percy warm up to the girl.

"That's an admirable undertaking," he exclaimed. "Well, if you ever need a hand with your schoolwork, I'd be happy to give my advice. It's time for me to turn in, sleep well, everyone."

"Night, Perce," Fred waved and yawned. "I'm headed up to bed, too, George, Lee?"

"We haven't finished our work!" Lee protested.

"Come here and let me see it," Darcie directed. "Now, this isn't going to be a regular occurrence, but I'll give you help. All you need to do tonight is the stuff due tomorrow. We can do the stuff for next week another time."

Charlie drew out his own work and followed the example set by his younger brothers and their friends. He was going to have to work his tail off if he wanted to win and keep a scholarship to Romania to work with Dragons. Finally, Darcie had finished assisting them and the three boys headed off to bed leaving the other two to continue slaving away.

"You sure you shouldn't head to bed, too?" Charlie asked the girl.

"I don't sleep much," she shook her head. "Plus, I've much too much to do to go to bed at this hour. What about you?"

"Well, I don't sleep much, either. It's too much hassle to take a sleeping draught every night and I'm able to function without a lot of rest, so I just live with it," he shrugged. "Done, finally."

"Careful, Charlie, don't put that there," she warned as he set his just finished homework assignment on the floor.

"Why?" he wondered.

"I don't know," she looked confused.

"I'll just place it over here then," he put it on a table.

"How was your first day back?" she inquired.

"It was intense, but it was nice to be back. Hey," he stomped out an ember that had fallen from the fire on to the carpet where he had put his homework just a few minutes ago.

"Yes?" she had looked away from him to close her book and stick it in her bag.

"Didn't you just tell me not to put my homework there?" he was staring at the slightly burned spot on the carpet.

"Yes, so?" she seemed lost.

"It would have been burned if you hadn't warned me," he explained.

"Really?" she looked surprised.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I- I'm not sure," she appeared startled by this information.

"It was probably just a lucky guess," he dismissed it.

"Right, the fire _is_ high and we _are_ close," she agreed and seemed to brighten.

They lapsed into silence and Charlie's brain started running a mile a minute about his homework, and Quidditch plays, and Arielle's birthday that wasn't for almost two months but she would be expecting something big for her coming of age so it would have to be great. Darcie was deep in a Second Year History of Magic textbook and Charlie wondered if she was trying to bore herself to sleep. It was almost two in the morning when she began yawning and she opened her eyes more slowly each time she blinked, he smiled to himself.

"Charlie, it's time for me to get to bed," she spoke softly.

"Sweet dreams," he watched her head for the stairs.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed my first foray into Harry Potter fanfiction. Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything. I hope you enjoy reading this story, because I've been working on it for awhile before posting it. Please review!

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The first couple of weeks back at Hogwarts went quickly for Charlie. He and Darcie were often the last ones in the Common Room and they would fill each other in on their days. Most nights, she'd ask him for clarification on an essay and he could help her. Sometimes they'd be talking at lunch about a topic she had looked in to and a teacher would then assign Charlie homework on that subject. He waved it off as coincidence, but as the days progressed, they happened more and more frequently.

"Darcie," he decided to find something out about her after it happened again.

"Yes, what is it, Charlie?" She looked away from the book they were attempting to make look less singed. She _had_ warned Angelina Johnson about leaving it too close to a candle, the wax had melted on to the book but since Angelina was sleeping, they thought it best to repair it for her.

"Does this sort of thing happen to you a lot?" He tried to scourge some wax off the cover with his finger nails, got fed up, attempted a spell, and it ignited. After putting it out, he opened his book to find the right way to say and do the spell.

"What sort of thing?"

"You tell someone something and then it happens," he elaborated.

"Yeah, I've always just assumed that I'm more perceptive than most people," she shrugged.

"Have you met Professor Trelawny yet?" He asked. "I've never taken Divination, but she teaches it; my friends say she's a fraud, but you might go have a chat with her.

"I don't know," she replied hesitantly and sat back in her chair in frustration. "This is _never_ going to get clean!"

"It will; don't worry," he sat back, too.

"River will fix it," Darcie told him.

"What?" He moved forward on his seat.

"I don't know," she looked at him blankly. "There was just something that said he would."

"Did it happen to say when; because Angelina's going to need her book tomorrow and we haven't exactly finished," he pointed out.

"I don't know!" She wailed. "It's not like I can turn it on and off."

"Sorry," he winced. "Well, it's her own fault if it's illegible, you did warn her. Get some sleep and we'll talk more in the morning."

"Good night," a weight seemed lifted from her shoulders as she walked to her room.

The next day was Friday and during breakfast the students looked exhausted after a long week, but everyone was greatly anticipating the upcoming weekend. Charlie and Darcie hardly looked at each other. Their conversation from the night before was almost forgotten and she was cheerfully flicking food with Fred, George, and Lee, who was distractedly finishing an essay.

Charlie was barely listening to Arielle complain about something for the millionth time when he saw River talking to a girl Charlie didn't know personally, but recognized as Darcie's friend Angelina. River took the girl's proffered textbook and with a small wand movement and an incantation, her book was as good as new. Charlie, who wasn't paying attention to his girlfriend anyway, was caught by surprise by what he had just witnessed down the table. He wanted to share the news with Darcie, but when he looked around for her, he couldn't see her; worse still, Arielle figured out that he wasn't focused on her and became furious. It was remedied by walking her to class with her practically draped around his neck.

"Hi, Charlie," Darcie raced up to him at lunchtime.

"Hey," he caught her in his arms before she smacked straight into his chest. "I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Oh, sure. But first, is there Quidditch practice tonight?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Listen, do you remember last night how Angelina ruined her book and you said River would fix it?"

"Did I?" Her face was blank as she looked into his.

"Yes, and I know you remember," he told her shrewdly.

"I guess it rings a bell," she shrugged, "so what?"

"It happened. Darcie, things you say are going to happen, happen," Charlie explained, taking a seat next to her at the table. "I know you know."

"I don't care," she grabbed a roll and spread butter on it.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" He demanded. "Don't you want to find out what's going on with you?"

"Frankly, no," she frowned at him. "It's not a big deal. I make good guesses—they aren't even guesses, I make logical inferences based on information I gather from my senses. If everyone thought like I did, what I say wouldn't be nearly so fascinating to you."

Darcie pointedly overlooked him for the rest of the day. He wanted to talk to her at dinner, but Percy was jawing on and on about some spell he claimed he had learned to do even more perfectly than Professor McGonagall. Charlie hoped that it was just Percy and his ever-gadding mouth that caused Darcie to not notice him, but as the day progressed, he had the feeling it was personal. After dinner, he wanted to know if she was coming to watch Quidditch practice, but when he went to ask her she paid him no attention and kept walking down the corridor; and when he was going to ask her if she'd be watching him (like she always said she would be), she wouldn't even turn from her conversation with George; or after practice he was hoping to walk back to the castle with her, she didn't even wait for him to finish changing like she usually did.

"You cannot keep ignoring me for the rest of the year, you know. I like you too much," he tried to appeal to her humour as he cornered her in the Common Room after Arielle had finally dislodged herself from his lap.

"I know," she giggled. "Why doesn't your girlfriend ever come to Quidditch practice? Doesn't she like to see how well you do even when you're not playing to win?"

"No, Arielle hates sitting in bleachers more than she absolutely has to," he told her.

"Oh," Darcie looked about to say more on the subject, but went silent. "Well, you're forgiven if you want to be."

"I do. I'm sorry if I upset you," he told her.

"Can I tell you something that only a few people know?"

"Of course," he had no idea what else she could tell him about herself that would surprise him at this point.

"It's my birthday tomorrow. I hate my birthday because I don't know who gave birth to me so I get a little testy when it comes around," she explained everything in a high voice and one heavy breath.

"It's your birthday and you're not telling me until," he checked his watch, "five minutes beforehand? You said only a few people know—do the twins, Lee, Percy?"

"Well, of course the twins and Lee know. I only spend eighty percent of my waking time with them. And Percy had questions about why I was doing so much schoolwork at once which kind of has a little to with my being older than most people in my year," she nodded. "But no one else knows because I don't like my birthday."

"You never told me!" He was surprisingly offended.

"You never asked," she replied. "Besides, you've never told me _your_ birthday."

"Twelve December," he said promptly. "When was I going to find out it's your birthday on twenty September?"

"Probably once I got a whole bunch of packages from a whole peck of owls at breakfast…today," Darcie shrugged.

"Happy birthday!" He hugged her tightly round the neck. "I don't have a gift for you or anything."

"I don't want a present," she shook her head. "I really just want the day to go away."

They only remained in the Common Room a short time after that. Darcie seemed to want to be alone and fled to her dormitory before one and Charlie felt very lonely without her, so he went to his own warm bed. Lying in bed he found he felt no better than he had sitting by himself in front of the fire. He was still smarting from the fact Darcie hadn't trusted him with information about her birthday, but he also felt really sorry that he had nothing to give her.

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In Charlie's opinion, Saturday morning's weather probably mirrored how Darcie was feeling. He woke to hear rain lashing against the windows of his dormitory before he climbed out of bed and headed for breakfast. Darcie wasn't seen for much of the day, but when she emerged, she looked upset and would hardly speak to anyone. The day after her birthday, however, she seemed to be entirely back to normal and no one mentioned it.

Until the following Friday, everything seemed to revert to normal—Charlie and Darcie were continually the only ones left in the common room in the dark of night. He was working out a new way for them to be victorious at Quidditch and had scheduled practices for two nights that week, but by Friday, his team was complaining about being overworked and Charlie was falling a little behind in his schoolwork. Night was a haven for Charlie because no one bothered him with questions and ideas for the next match; he noticed Darcie was looking pale, but before he could approach her and fight out what was wrong, she came to him.

"Charlie, I feel like we haven't talked in ages," she enthused when, by two o'clock Saturday, morning they were the only ones remaining in front of the fire.

"You went to bed early last night," he pointed out. "It was about eleven."

"I'm taking the equivalent of fourteen courses, I get tired," she laughed. "Besides, I watched your entire Quidditch practice."

"You did. Although, I think I saw you nodding off on George's shoulder," he teased.

"A little. Listen, can I ask you a favour?"

"Of course. I'm at your disposal."

"I'm going to go see Professor Trelawny tomorrow. I haven't told her, but I'm sure she knows I'm coming," they snorted with laughter. "I know you know something's "going on with me", and I get these weird visions, but I've never told anyone in my family because…well, you know the stories about my relatives. Anyway, if there's any place in the world to investigate this stuff, it's here at Hogwarts where there is an alleged Seer employed, right?"

"Yeah. You're sure you want to do this?" He looked at her closely.

"No, but it scares me and I don't want to be scared. I also don't want to go alone and that brings me to the favour I have to ask of you," she chewed her bottom lip.

"I'm not a skilled Legilimens, but I know what you're going to ask. Of course I'll go with you. I'm interested in this," he assured her.

"You'll come? I don't want to ask the boys because they don't really know what goes one—it's a lot easier to throw them off a strange event than you. All I have to do is tell them I don't want to talk about it and they back off," she told him pointedly.

"The thing is, I don't need your help with my homework. If they get you cross, they're scared you won't give them any more advice," he explained.

"I'd never cut them off like that. I am fond of them and with my workload, I don't have time to make new friends," Charlie was unsure if she was serious until he noticed her shaking with laughter. "I'm done my Potions. Charms now."

"You know, I'm going to head to bed. When do you want to go see Trelawny?"

"I was thinking around ten. Also, I promised Fred I'd work with him on his History of Magic essay after lunch which means I'm going to be helping all three of them with everything that's due this week," she rolled her eyes.

"Good night, Darcie," he told her and went to bed.

Charlie woke the next morning and was surprised at how much he was looking forward to accompanying Darcie to meet with the Divination teacher. He was starving and he noticed that it was nine so he rushed down to the Great Hall to grab something to eat before the day started. Percy wanted to talk—he needed help with an extra-credit assignment he was working on for Transfiguration and thought his older brother would be the right person to ask.

"Hey, Percy," Charlie broke in at the best opportunity, "have you seen Darcie?"

"Yes," was all his younger brother would say as he was making revisions.

"When and where?"

"She was here about ten minutes before you. Said she was going for a walk."

"Where?"

"I don't know, Charlie," Percy snapped. "I'm trying to work here. Thank you for your help, but I'm going to go to the library where it's quieter."

Charlie, annoyed at his brother's ungratefulness, watched Percy walk haughtily out of the room, and grabbed some tomatoes. Eventually, Fred, Lee, and George walked over to the table, Lee rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and sat down without speaking to each other. George nodded over at Charlie and he nodded back, finishing his eggs. At nine thirty, full of well-made breakfast, he went back to the common room to wait for Darcie to return from her walk because surely she would come back to try to find him before she went to see Professor Trelawny. Twenty minutes later, Darcie climbed through the portrait of the Fat Lady and stood there, staring at him, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded. "Why didn't you come join me?"

"Join you, what are you going on about? Percy said you went for a walk."

"Yeah, I said I was going for a walk and would he tell you that I would meet you by the Lake at twenty five to ten. You were so late, I thought I'd come back here and wake you up because you must still be asleep," she explained.

"Percy didn't tell me anything of the kind! I helped him with his paper then he got his knickers in a knot and huffed off," he replied. "Come on, let's go."

"I'm sorry, I knew Percy was probably the wrong person to relay the message—he was so consumed with his work—I just needed to get out of the castle for awhile," she told him. "I assume you get kind of nervous before a match, worrying about your performance. I feel a little nervous. What if I get up there and she tells me I have no talent and I'm just insane?"

"Do you really think you're insane?" He asked her. "Because if you _are_ insane or _think_ you're insane, I don't want to waste my time."

"Shut up," she whacked him on the arm. "Do you know where we're going?"

"I do, I asked some friends where their classes are held," he nodded.

They walked in silence for several minutes, trying not to get too lost on their way to the tower, and Charlie noticed Darcie looked white as a sheet. There must have been at least half a dozen staircases they had to climb before they reached their destination, and then they faced the difficulty of there not being a door. An entrance to a classroom was not visible anywhere until she looked up and tugged his sleeve.

"How are we supposed—"she began, but he picked her up and lifted her to the trap door in the ceiling. Laughing, she knocked on the wood and it opened, a rope ladder tumbling down.

"After you," he put her back on the floor and they climbed upwards.

"Who's there?" A soft voice called from the back of the dark room.

"Professor Trelawney?"

"Yes, my child?"

Charlie's eyes adjusted to the lighting in the room and his mind registered the slightly bizarre sight that greeted his gaze. There were overstuffed chairs around tables and on the tables were crystal balls, on the walls there were shelves full of teacups, and Charlie saw multiple decks of cards lying about. The woman Darcie was speaking to was an interesting sight in and of herself—she was wrapped in layers of glittering shawls, with gigantic glasses, and a lot of frizzy, flyaway hair. She peered closely at Darcie.

"Professor, my name is Darcie Burke and this is Charlie Weasley," she motioned towards him.

"Hello, Professor," he smiled.

"Are you in my class?" Professor Trelawney walked over to them. "No, you are too old and you are too young, but there's something…"

"Professor, I see things and I have feelings," Darcie began. "I mean feelings about things that are going to happen."

"I know, dear, I can tell," the teacher nodded wisely.

"Can you help me understand? Can you help me hone my skills?" The girl wondered.

"Professor, Darcie won't waste your time," Charlie put in. "She's taking two years at one time so she can go into Third Year next year instead of Second Year."

"You are studying First Year and Second Year classes, my girl?" The woman gazed at her intently and Darcie nodded. "Divination cannot simply be picked up on a whim whenever you desire."

"Please, Professor," Darcie protested.

"I'm sorry, my dear, it is not for me to decide. It has been determined by a power far higher than myself. I will see you in my class next year, I presume."

"Certainly, Professor."

"Miss Burke, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about whatever you might See," the teacher encouraged.

"Thank you, Professor," Darcie gave her a weak smile and descended the ladder.

"Goodbye, Professor," Charlie nodded at her and followed his friend.

At the bottom of the rope, Charlie saw Darcie looking fairly upset and she was staring out the window at the Forbidden Forest. He put his arm around her and she buried her face in his shoulder so he held her close for as long as she desired. When she had pulled herself together, she stood back and gave him a small smile.

''I'm sorry, Darcie," Charlie smiled back.

"It's not so bad," she shrugged. "I'm already taking fourteen courses. And she said I could come back if I need any guidance."

"You aren't coming back, are you?" He asked shrewdly.

"Not on your life," she laughed. "I'll take Divination next year and show her."

"I know you will," he laughed, too. "Do you want to come and meet someone who always cheers me up?"

"Well, I thought that would take longer than it did…" she trailed off. "Lunch isn't for over an hour, we might as well go visiting."

Charlie led Darcie out of the castle and across the grounds. "His name is Rubeus Hagrid and he's the Gamekeeper—he shows me some of the greatest animals from the Forbidden Forest."

"I guess you two get along pretty well. You and your love for exotic animals," she raised her eyebrows. "Are you still wanting to go to Romania?"

"Absolutely, but don't mention it to Hagrid—he loves dragons and he'd die to go."

"Gotcha," she nodded.

"Hagrid!" Charlie called and knocked on the door of his friend's hut.

"Charlie," the giant man roared when he opened the entrance, "and yeh've brough' a friend. Hello."

Darcie looked slightly overwhelmed and she craned her neck to smile politely up him. "Hello, Mr. Hagrid."

"None o' this mister stuff," Hagrid told her gruffly. "Hagrid'll do. Now, Charlie, I met yer girlfrien' once, but I remember her bein' older and blonder."

"Hagrid, this is not my girlfriend. This is Darcie Burke," Charlie informed. "She's friends with my brothers."

"I've met them," Hagrid nodded. "Pretty in'erested in the Forbidden Forest, they are. They always like this?"

"Yeah," Charlie nodded. "I can have a talk with them."

"Would yeh? I've chased them away at leas' once a week since term started," Hagrid shook his head.

Charlie and Darcie stayed and visited with Hagrid for half an hour longer before going back to the castle. Darcie was quieter than Charlie had ever seen her, but she was very polite to her new acquaintance. When they got back to the castle, Charlie was accosted by Arielle and Darcie hurried off to find Fred, George, and Lee. She mumbled something about wanting to start work before lunch.

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Second chapter up and reworked—I hope it's acceptable. Thanks for being awesome readers!


	3. Chapter 3

Third installment of my story. I hope you like it. If you do, please review. If you don't, please be kind with your critiques. Cheers!

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The Monday morning before the first Quidditch match, Charlie and River were eating breakfast together when he saw something that was guaranteed to be a fiasco—further down the table he saw Arielle headed for Darcie. His girlfriend was looking, if it was possible, even more beautiful than usual and was being followed by four of her closest friends. His friend was sitting with Fred, George, and Lee laughing and chatting, and while Darcie was pretty, she was not dressed up or made-up in the slightest.

"Hello, boys," Arielle bestowed a glowing smile upon her boyfriend's twin brothers, "and you're Lee, right?"

Fred and George smiled up at Arielle and Lee smiled mutely. The older girl, however, was paying no attention to the boys, her bright blue eyes were fixed on Darcie who looked back calmly. Charlie lost his appetite. He knew Arielle had been feeling jealous because of how much he liked Darcie, but he never thought she would take it this far…Darcie was just twelve years old.

"Hi, Darcie," Arielle's voice was dripping with artificial sweetness, "how are you today?"

"I'm well, Arielle, thanks. How are _you_?" Darcie kept her eyes trained on Arielle's and ignored all the other girls.

"I'm great," Arielle grinned and Charlie knew from experience that it was fake. "Now, Darcie, we all know how great it is to have guy friends, but sometimes we all need girl-time. Why don't you join us for lunch today?"

"I'd love to," Darcie smiled back at Arielle, her face stiff.

"Super! See you then. Bye," Arielle and her friends strutted of to class.

After the five girls had left, the boys just sat staring at Darcie who continued quietly eating her eggs. George put his arm around the girl and who just shook her head. Fred and Lee went back to their own meals and none of them spoke. Charlie felt like rubbish.

George was worried for Darcie; all morning she looked pale and shaken and he didn't blame her. Fred and Lee seemed to push aside their friend's breakfast confrontation, but George knew better. The other two didn't know about the beautiful Arielle's uglier side.

Over the summer, at Charlie's insistence, Arielle had come to stay for a week and she had tried to win over the entire family. It had worked on everyone else and she had almost won over George until he had experienced something for which he could neither forgive nor would he ever forget. Two days before she was supposed to go home, Arielle had asked for George's assistance with something, then he had dropped some of her favourite perfume, and she went berserk—screaming at him, vein pulsing in her temple, face brick red, and she had actually struck him. That memory was forever burned in his mind.

"Darcie, you don't have to have lunch with those girls, you know," George muttered during Herbology.

"No, you're right," she agreed. "I'm going to, though. She thought she and her friends could intimidate me."

"Do you know why she hates you?" Lee, who had been listening, wondered.

"Of course she doesn't," Fred said.

"Of course I do," said Darcie at the same time.

"You _know_?" The boys were thunderstruck.

"It's not that hard to figure out," she replied simply. "I'm a girl who's friends with her boyfriend. They've already got problems—he's losing interest in her, and she's trying to hold on to him for dear life, and she probably worries that Charlie confides in me."

"How do you figure that?" Fred looked stunned.

"I don't know," she turned to the workbench and would answer no more questions.

Charlie dreaded what was going to happen at lunch that day and it was impossible for him to concentrate on his morning lessons. He didn't think Arielle was aware that he had seen her display at breakfast because she was behaving as she usually did. It was hard for him to be his regular self around her, but they were arguing enough these days that he just avoided her as best he could. Darcie passed him once in a corridor and smiled him like nothing was wrong.

When lunchtime rolled around, Charlie took a seat with his younger brothers (River was in the library finishing up a Muggle Studies essay) and they waited. Fred, George, and Lee had let Percy know what was going on and he looked very disapproving of the whole situation. It seemed he blamed Charlie for whatever was going to happen even though no one had any idea what was going to transpire. One of Arielle's friends came in to grab some food and left hurriedly while five pairs of eyes were glued to her.

"They're eating somewhere else?" Lee looked put out. "How're we going to keep an eye on them? I mean, no offense, Charlie, but Darcie's one little First Year compared to your girlfriend and her Sixth Year friends."

"I heartily agree," Percy nodded, wiping his glasses on his robes.

"Come on, guys, they're not so bad" Charlie shook his head but he had nothing else to say.

"I'm going to find someplace to watch," George decided and ran off.

"He can't go alone," Fred followed him.

"We can't _all_ go," Charlie told the other two remaining boys.

Lunch was a quiet affair.

George and Fred were tearing round the castle looking for the group of girls so they could eavesdrop and keep and eye on Darcie. They found them in a courtyard after checking empty classrooms and the Gryffindor common room. Their friend was sitting on a bench between two of Arielle's taller friends and she looked absolutely tiny. Arielle and her two other friends were sitting on the bench across from her and no one said a word.

Finally, Darcie broke the silence, "Arielle, what's wrong? Why are the six of us sitting here in one of the most awkward scenarios imaginable and not speaking?"

"Like you don't know," a redheaded girl snorted.

"I assume it has something to do with Charlie," Darcie began calmly. "I assume you're jealous because he and I spend such copious amounts of time together. You're upset about the possibility of me usurping your position in his heart."

Fred was amazed at her gall—he caught George's eye and they gaped at each other as everyone in the courtyard seemed to get very angry and tense. George was bursting with pride at how mild-mannered Darcie, who weighed about as much as a cat, was speaking to these annoyed girls anyone of whom could easily have physically subdued her. Both boys, however, had a problem when the older girls actually _tried_ to assault her.

"Arielle," Darcie continued, "I'm not afraid of you, I'm not envious of you, and I don't want to be you. I believe you have a problem with that because you want people to think you think you're so wonderful and that you believe you're as wonderful as you portray yourself to be. I scare you because I don't think you're all that great—you're pretty (I wouldn't try to deny that) and you're a reasonably talented witch, but you're average. And being thought to be average is unacceptable to you."

"How dare you," Arielle hissed. "Steph, grab her."

This was something unacceptable to Fred and George who loved Darcie and would not allow anything to happen to her. It was worse that there were five girls, all at least four years older than she, towering around her menacingly; the twins were unable to even see the youngest girl through the thicket of bodies. That was the moment they chose a course of action that would influence the rest of their lives at Hogwarts. Fred dropped a Dungbomb.

There was pandemonium in the courtyard so George darted in, shoved Darcie out of the group of girls, and whispered, "go!"

Filch was in a nasty mood as he wheezed up to the corridor and saw Fred standing there watching the chaos. George dashed back over to his twin in order to avoid being noticed/blamed by the Sixth Year girls who would have had no problem turning their rage onto him. The downside was that he was instantly blamed with Fred for dropping the bomb and they were shuffled off to Filch's office to be hung by their thumbs or suffer some other punishment.

They were sitting in Filch's office for the first time—he had _threatened_ to take them there before, but something else had always come up that demanded his immediate attention. Fred gazed around greedily at all of the items the caretaker had confiscated over his many years of running after students and his eyes landed on a filing cabinet labeled "Confiscated and Highly Dangerous"; he elbowed George in the ribs, pointed out his find, and saw his twin's eyes glitter mischievously.

George nodded and reached into his pocket for a Dungbomb. He tossed it out the open door and the horrendous stench wafted into the office. Filch sniffed the air and gave a howl of fury, grabbing George by the collar of his shirt he yanked him out into the corridor to examine the scene of the crime. As soon as Filch and his brother were out of sight, Fred leapt from his seat, dashed to the filing cupboard, and started digging through it. He came across something that was so normal it had to be some great find, it looked like a simple piece of parchment, and jammed it into his pocket. Two hours and the promise of a grueling detention each, Fred and George headed off to examine their new treasure.

"What did you get?" George demanded.

"No idea," Fred shrugged and handed him the parchment.

"This had better be good considering I got second degree burns on my neck from Filch jerking me up by my shirt."

"We'll figure out how to work it."

Charlie was waiting in the common room for Darcie, hoping against all odds that she would return with Arielle and her friends and they would all be laughing and smiling; Lee was up in his dormitory, worrying; Percy was in the library, probably trying to finish all the homework he would need to do for the next four years. Darcie returned to the common room looking terrified and upset, she said nothing to Charlie—barely acknowledged his presence there—and ran up the stairs to her dormitory. Arielle and her friends sauntered in five minutes later and flocked around him when River, his star Chaser, came into the common room and all the girls wanted to discuss was the upcoming Quidditch match.

Lee came down from his dormitory, saw the older girls had returned, and waited for Darcie who barreled down the stairs from the Girls' dormitories. She whispered something in his ear, he nodded, and they left the common room together which reminded Charlie he and River were going to be late for their Care of Magical Creatures class. The Sixth Year boys left their female compatriots and headed out to the grounds.

Fred and George were alone in Potions: Lee and Darcie were nowhere around and they depended on the latter to make them look good and they had absolutely no idea what had happened to the former. When Lee entered the dungeons he handed Snape a note that wiped the smirk off his face (he was probably itching to give him a detention) and joined the twins at their table. He refused to answer any of the questions in class about where he'd been or if he knew Darcie's whereabouts and Fred and George were so annoyed they vowed not to tell him about their great find.

"Okay," George rounded on Lee as they walked to Transfiguration after their Potions class, "where were you? And do you know where Darcie is?"

"I was taking Darcie to the Hospital Wing," he informed. "She's fine—probably thanks to the two of you. We took her to the hospital wing and told Madam Pomfrey she was having girl troubles…it was probably the singular most embarrassing moment of my life. She told me about what happened so I couldn't say no. She'll be at dinner."

"Should we tell Charlie his girlfriend's mental?" Fred voiced what they were all thinking. "That she tried to have Darcie hurt?"

"It's not our place," George shook his head, "that's what I told myself over the summer, anyway." At Fred and Lee's insistence, he relayed the scene that had happened between him and Arielle.

"And you didn't _tell_ her this?" Fred demanded.

"There's a reason I went to watch! Plus, I tried to convince her not to go have lunch with them—we all did."

"Yeah, but you knew that Arielle could be…"Lee didn't have the right words to finish the sentence while they were setting up for Transfiguration.

"Silence, Mr. Jordan," Professor McGonagall ordered as she entered the classroom and the boys fell silent.

Charlie noticed the twins and Lee were eating dinner alone, but kept glancing around as though looking for someone. He hadn't had a moment alone with Arielle to ask her how lunch with Darcie had gone, but, judging from how Darcie had appeared when she had come to the common room afterwards, it was not a conversation he wanted to have with anyone. Percy was late coming to dinner, he looked peaky and his eyes were slightly red, but Charlie didn't have the heart to take the mickey out of him. Finally, Arielle dragged him back to the Gryffindor tower telling him she needed help with a Charms paper. He was surprised when Fred, Lee, and George came back to the common room without Darcie, but he could have been knocked over with a feather when, after dinner was finished, she reappeared with Percy. Beside him, Arielle tensed.

Fred and George rushed at the girl when she had been helped into the room by Percy, and they dragged her away from their older brother to sit with them and Lee in the corner where they had been keeping vigil. Charlie had no homework that evening and it was hard to come up with a pretence on which to stay in the common room, but he wasn't going to go up and lie on his bed waiting for sleep to come when he knew it wouldn't, so he set about reading ahead in his textbooks. Arielle, the twins, and Lee were the very last people to leave the common room that night—it seemed the First Years were refusing to leave until the girl had gone to bed and she had been forced to go to bed by Charlie after she started drooling on his shoulder. But by twelve thirty, only Darcie and Charlie were left.

"Darcie," Charlie moved to the corner where she seemed planted, "how are you doing? I didn't see you at dinner."

"I'm fine," she replied levelly. "I spent the afternoon in the hospital wing—girl troubles, you know?"

"Right," Charlie nodded, but he got the feeling she wasn't being entirely honest with him when she told him that.

"How are you doing?" Her dark grey eyes flicked to his face for only a second while she spoke to him and then returned to her homework.

"I'm not too bad. I was just a little worried about you, you know."

"Don't be worried about me, nothing some rest won't cure. You know how easily relaxation and sleep come to me," he thought her laugh was slightly bitter.

"Is it all right if I ask you how lunch went?" He wondered timidly.

"Of course," she had a strained look around her eyes. "I'm sorry, Charlie, but I don't think Arielle and I are ever going to be the best of friends. I hope you didn't have your heart set on that. It was your idea for her to ask me to lunch with her?"

"God no!" He hadn't meant to sound so defensive.

"It wasn't?" She looked genuinely surprised. "She said that you were hoping she and I could become friends because you cared about us both so much."

"No. I mean, that's a good line, and I probably should want that, but I didn't put her up to it, Darcie," he said quickly.

"Oh," she seemed to relax. "Well then I won't be disappointing _you_?"

"Hey, if you two aren't meant to be friends, you're not meant to be friends," he answered gently.

"Good. We're going to destroy Slytherin on Saturday, right?"

"Of course. You're coming to the match, then?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

They were quiet and Charlie felt tired quite early for once. He bade his friend good night and went to bed. There was something bothering him, though, and he figured it out when he climbed into his four-poster bed: Why had Arielle lied to Darcie? And why would no one give him the details about what had happened?

Charlie cornered Fred and George the next day and forced them to tell him what they had witnessed on Monday; they wasted no time in relaying to him everything they had seen. He confronted Arielle about it, they had a terrible row and he truly thought their relationship was at an end when she told him how jealous she was of Darcie, how he never confided in her even though she was his girlfriend, and that she had wanted Darcie to back off so they could have a proper go at their relationship. Her reasoning disgusted him and he had to leave her before he could say something he would regret. Arielle, however, would not give up on their relationship and apologized to him almost immediately after dinner that night. She said she had gone to Darcie and begged her forgiveness and that, even though they were never going to be close, she and the younger girl had come to a certain understanding.

Fred, George, and Lee seemed to carry a grudge against Arielle far longer than anyone, but Charlie had to move on in his mind. Saturday was supposed to have sunshine and blue skies which meant good playing conditions, but they had to be wary of glare and, being the Seeker, Charlie would have to watch everything carefully to be certain he was looking at the Snitch and not a wristwatch. Everyone in Gryffindor would shoot him encouraging smiles when they passed him in the corridors which bolstered his spirits.

"Good luck, Charlie," Darcie gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she, Fred, George, and Lee sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast Saturday morning.

"Thanks, Darcie," he felt himself go red as the spot where she had kissed him tingled.

"Now, Charlie," Fred began, piling food on his plate, "this is the first Hogwarts Quidditch match we've ever seen so you had better put on a good show today."

"You won't be disappointed," Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's Keeper, promised.

"Well, you had better put up a good show, Oliver," George said. "You know people put responsibility on the Keeper.

"Not to worry," he shrugged. "I eat, breathe, and sleep Quidditch."

"I've noticed," Darcie smiled at him. "Good luck to you, too."

"Thank you," Oliver muttered at his plate of eggs and bacon.

Charlie hoped that Darcie's flattery wouldn't throw Wood off his game because he needed him in top form. Luckily for his Keeper, Darcie turned to Lee and seemed to be explaining an incantation for Transfiguration to him. Arielle, on the other hand, came over and sat practically on his lap as though trying to throw him off _his_ game.

It didn't seem to matter, though, whatever the girls had in mind in terms of disabling his players because Gryffindor still managed to slaughter (two hundred ten to forty) Slytherin in the hour-long match. There was a huge party afterwards for which Fred and George managed to get loads of food, but refused to explain how. Even Percy joined in the festivities for a few hours. Darcie planted victory kisses on each of Charlie's cheeks and on one of Oliver Wood's and then disappeared. Charlie didn't even see her after everyone had cleared out—he wondered if she had gone to bed extremely early or he had just missed seeing her in the throng of people.

In the morning, Darcie seemed so normal that Charlie's worries that something might have been wrong the night before completely evaporated. Arielle was being extra sweet and affectionate towards him which made him feel about ten feet tall not to mention the assignment he received full marks on in Care of Magical Creatures his professor had found him to return. By the time it was just him and Darcie in the common room, Charlie was feeling so elated, he didn't know if he would be able to fall asleep.

"You look happy," Darcie observed while they each worked away at History of Magic assignments by the fire.

"Today has been a really great day," he smiled.

"Really? I'm happy for you," She looked happy, but she also looked tired.

"Darcie, are you okay? You look exhausted."

"Professor Snape set me a three foot essay to make up for not being in class the other day. I just have so much on my plate," she looked up at him, lip trembling and eyes full of tears.

"Oh, Darcie," he sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. "Snape's a git—don't let him get to you."

"I just don't want him to be disappointed in me," she gave heaving dry sobs.

"You're worried _Snape_ will be disappointed in you?" Charlie wanted to laugh in disbelief. "Listen, you're at the top of the First Year class and you're in the top ten percent of the Second Year class, you're not a disappointment. I think Snape's hatred of Gryffindors coupled with his actually wanting you to succeed makes him push you harder."

"What?" Darcie, rather redder in the face than usual, looked confused.

"He may be a git, but he's still a teacher. You missing a class probably just makes him worry you're going to slip in standing. Besides, he has ties to your family and likes you," Charlie soothed. "You know, maybe you should go to bed. Darcie, do you think maybe you've bitten off more than you can chew?"

"I think I'm too far gone…" she shook her head. "I'm already ahead in Second Year Charms and this History of Magic assignment isn't due for the Second Years until December. I'm on top of everything else."

"How?" He was incredulous.

"I don't do anything _but_ schoolwork," she shrugged. "I don't have extracurricular clubs, I have a total of five friends and three of them are in my classes, I don't join in things like Gobstones and Exploding Snap, and I don't sleep much."

"You have a point," Charlie nodded. "Do you ever wish you were just, er, normal?"

"No," she frowned. "I want to do it like this. This is just who I am."

"Okay, I will let you do what makes you happy," he threw up his hands in surrender, "but whenever you need a shoulder to cry on or a hand with something, you know where to find me. Just so you know."

"Thanks, Charlie," Darcie kissed him on the cheek.

Charlie never had to force himself to stay awake which made it easy for him to successfully finish his essay and keep an eye on Darcie. He had to admit that he was a little bit worried about his young friend that evening, so he didn't want to go to bed until she was going, too. It would have been an unpleasant surprise to come into the common room in the morning and see Darcie slumped over her books. They both agreed that two thirty on a Monday morning was a good time to head up to their respective dormitories.

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Charlie woke up to find that Hallowe'en was a blustery Sunday, he noticed the sun had yet to rise, so he decided to roll over and go back to sleep. He awoke later to find a dull grey light fighting through the drapes and decided it was probably time to go for breakfast. When he reached the common room he saw Darcie sitting cross legged in an armchair with her head drooping on her shoulder.

"You know, you've got a bed upstairs where you can sleep," Charlie sat on the arm of her chair, startling her.

"I know," she nodded. "I'm waiting for your brothers and Lee. I thought we would go down to breakfast together."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Twenty minutes."

"They're not coming for awhile—it's only eight thirty. Come one, I'll walk you down," he offered her his hand and pulled her out of the chair.

"They'll know where to find me. Even if they don't, they'll head to the Great Hall eventually," she concurred and they left the common room.

Charlie and Darcie made sleepy small talk as they made their way downstairs for breakfast, but he did have to lift her over a fake step to stop her falling through. When they reached the Great Hall, Darcie gave a sharp intake of breath at how incredible the room looked; there were giant jack-o-lanterns floating ten feet overhead, candles with eerie flames, and live bats zooming around. They stood next to a continually guttering candle and it threw Darcie's already gaunt face into creepy hoariness, aging her decades.

Arielle was sitting with her friends at the Gryffindor table and she smiled at him when he and Darcie came through the doors. Charlie felt Darcie stiffen next to him, he guided her to a couple spots up the table from his girlfriend. The house-elves had gotten away with themselves while making breakfast—everything was orange or black (no one really wanted to try the food that was coloured black until someone did so accidentally and deemed it edible) and certain pieces of food were in Hallowe'en shapes. The orange-tinged eggs were, thankfully, devoid of the taste of citrus.

"Charlie, I'm concerned. Is my toast burnt or is it supposed to be this colour?" She looked at it askance. Then she picked up a slice of orange and ate it.

"Let me have a bite?" He took it from her plate without waiting for a response. "No, you know, it's perfectly all right. Try it."

He waved the piece of toast in front of her face and she took a bite out of it, laughing. "I guess it's not so bad. But, really, I think the elves went a little overboard."

"I'm not sure that orange breakfast sausage was the best course of action," Charlie agreed.

"Darcie," Fred sat down next to her, "you didn't wait for us."

"I did, too!" She protested.

"We came down to the common room and you weren't there," George added, sitting across from his twin.

"And we know you rise earlier than we do, so we thought we'd find you here," Lee, next to George, informed.

"She did wait for you guys," Charlie put in, "I just swept her away before you got there."

"I guess you lot just need to drag yourselves out of bed a little earlier in the morning to get the privilege of breakfasting with me," Darcie shrugged.

"Are any of these dishes safe to eat?" Lee prodded at the orange eggs he had scooped onto his plate.

'The toast," Darcie replied instantly. "Actually, everything tastes good _and_ normal—it's just black and orange."

"Wonderful…" George rolled his eyes.

"Darcie, I need help with my History of Magic assignment," Fred told her.

"And?" She asked wickedly.

"Will you help me?" He pleaded. "Binns gave me a failing grade on the last one and I need a better mark on this one."

"Of course I will," she smiled indulgently as though he was a child she was minding. "And what do the two of you need?"

"Us?" Lee and George replied in unison.

"Darcie, you wound us," George claimed.

"Just because we need some assistance every now and then doesn't mean you should just assume that we always require your aid," Lee contributed.

"But, since you've mentioned it, we could use a hand with turning matches into needles," George said.

"I'm happy to do it," she agreed.

Hallowe'en day was a fairly laid back even considering the big production breakfast had been and supper would likely prove to be. Charlie had a Care of Magical Creatures essay to finish so he accompanied the four First Years to the library. They found an empty table where everyone could work hard on their projects. Darcie managed to power through a Potions essay as well as two pieces of Charms work; Lee bugged her every few minutes for input on his homework; George and Lee attempted Transfiguration charms on needles they had nicked; and Charlie was there for guidance as it was needed. When lunch rolled around, Darcie said she was not hungry and the four boys abandoned her to eat.

Charlie was finished so he allowed himself to be ambushed by Arielle and agreed to spend the afternoon with her. Fred, George, and Lee rushed back to Darcie in the library so they could pick her brain a little more before the school week began. George had no idea how he and the other boys were going to survive in the coming years if Darcie was going to skip ahead to the next year. By supper, though, everyone had achieved what he or she had set out to finish.

"Did you get the guys all caught up?" Charlie asked Darcie as they sat in the common room at two o'clock Monday morning.

"Yes," she sighed. "I worked with them all day and now they're up-to-date. I'm still ahead in my classes. I should be all right in Potions, Charms, and History of Magic if I do nothing until after the Christmas Holiday."

"Which you won't do," he grinned.

"Well, no. But I'm only a little ahead in other subjects so I'll be focusing on those," she explained. "I don't want my standing to slip."

"Darcie, go to bed. You've done enough work today," he steered her towards the stairs to her dormitory. "Good night."

"Good night, Charlie," she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

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Hopefully that was an acceptable addition to my story. On to the next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

So, I've been adding chapters at quite a pace so far, but that's because they were already written and I just hadn't figured out what I was going to with them. However, this is the last chapter that I had started. It might be a little bit of time before I get up the fifth chapter.

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Charlie knew he was a bad boyfriend. He was not an abusive boyfriend, or a neglectful boyfriend, but he was not being good to his girlfriend anymore. Arielle was beautiful, she was a competent student, and she was popular. It was more a question of boredom than anything because he was no longer interested in seeing her nor did he find her a stimulating partner. He also had the sneaking suspicion his best friend, River, was in love with her and that she was not so immune to his charms.

Darcie said nothing when he spilled this information to her that evening while he was helping her with her Charms homework. She sat with an impassive look on her face and nodded without taking her eyes from his face the entire time he talked. When he was finished, though, she left her chair and took the seat next to him on the couch where he sat.

"I'm sorry you're going through this," she lay her hand on his arm, "but you know I'm not really impartial."

"I don't need someone to be impartial—I just need someone to talk to about it," he snaked his arm around her shoulder. "Anyone I speak to in my year can go straight to Arielle. And even though he's my best friend, I can't tell this to River for multiple reasons."

"I know," Darcie nodded.

"You know a couple of weeks ago when you had lunch with Arielle and her friends, I thought we were going to split up after I heard what happened. I forgave her because you were able to do it," he revealed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after we fought about how she treated you, she came to me and said that you and she talked. She told me she apologized and you forgave her."

"She did?" Darcie snorted with laughter.

"Yeah. What's so funny?" Charlie asked, bemused.

"Charlie, Arielle never came and said sorry to me," she explained. "I've forgiven her, but I did that because I don't want to hold a grudge. Not because she asked for forgiveness."

"She lied to me?" He was furious. "She never came up to you?"

"The only time I've talked to Arielle since we had lunch was when she was upset that I kissed you after Gryffindor won the first Quidditch match. She told me to stay away from you," she explained.

"She said what?" His blood was boiling.

"It's not so bad," she tried to calm him. "It's not as though it's stopped me, has it?"

"That's not the point," he raged. "She can't tell people to stay away from me! I don't tell her to stay away from River because he's in love with her. Not that you're…"

"I know," she nodded, but turned pink. "Just so you know, they're going to be happy together."

"You know that? Did you See it?"

"It's my feelings," she nodded. "If they're going to be happy together, you're not in the picture and you don't want to be in the picture."

"So, I can end it. When am I going to do this? You know it's her birthday in a fortnight. I dunno, Darcie, can I hang on until then?"

"Why wait until then?"

"If I do it too close to her birthday, I'm an ass for ruining her coming-of-age," Charlie was thinking aloud in case she had suggestions.

"You guys have been together how long?" She inquired of him.

"A year and a half," he counted back in his memory.

"After that long, I don't think she'll be all over River in just a couple of weeks," Darcie advised. "I don't have anything to back it up, but I just don't think that she's going to jump him that soon. Girls need time."

"You're sure?" He raised his eyebrow. "I'm not sure you know Arielle like I do. She doesn't really like to be alone."

"Then maybe you should break it off as soon as possible so that if she does, er, get her talons into River, he'll get over the initial euphoria," Darcie suggested.

"I suppose that could work," Charlie shrugged.

"I don't have any other ideas for you."

Charlie knew she had a point, and there was the fact that he felt like Arielle was a poison seeping through his body. She was making him ill with every moment they were in their dysfunctional relationship and it was time to put an end to it. He vowed to break up with her the next day in order to start the healing process as soon as possible, but he truly was worried that she would turn to River. If his top Chaser was going to be the one to catch his ex-girlfriend on the rebound, Darcie was probably right that it was best to get it over with as soon as possible.

"Charlie, are you going to be dating someone else?" Darcie broke into his silent reverie.

"What? No, there's no one else," he denied. "Maybe I need to be alone for awhile."

"Should I go?" Darcie stood up.

"No, no," he pushed her back into the seat next to him. "I just meant that maybe I need to not be in a relationship for awhile. Our relationship is not really what I meant."

"Oh, I misunderstood," she looked discomfited.

"Not a problem," he chuckled. "It _is_ half past two, maybe it's time for you to go to bed."

"No! I'm staying up as late as you do."

"Darcie, it isn't a competition," he told her. She nodded, but went back to her homework.

It was almost three in the morning when Darcie's head lolled against Charlie's shoulder that he knew it was time for both of them to go to bed. She gave him a somewhat sheepish smile as he gently shook her awake. He gave her a hug and a kiss and watched her leave for her own warm bed; he finished his assignment and followed suit.

The next morning, after a breakfast that was extremely awkward for Charlie (Arielle looked oblivious to his discomfort), he decided it was now or never. Unfortunately, the bell sounded for classes and they headed to separate classes, and when they did have the same class, Arielle almost missed the beginning of the lesson. At lunchtime, though, they were done class and meandering down the corridor to the Great Hall, so Charlie set his teeth and prepared to drop the bomb.

"Hey, Arielle," he said in a light tone.

"Yes?" She batted her eyelashes up at him and, instead of the usual response of attraction, he felt his resolve strengthen.

"I think we need to break up. I don't think our relationship is working and I know it won't work because you have this lying problem, and you don't like Darcie or even try to be civil towards her which just doesn't work for me," he explained.

"What?" Arielle looked as though she had no idea what was going on. "But we're the perfect couple and I love you."

"I'm sorry," he extricated his arm from her clutch. "It simply isn't worth it to me. I hope we can be friends, but I need to be by myself for awhile." Charlie turned and continued walking to the Great Hall.

"You can't do this to me!" Arielle called after him. "You still love me! It's that little brat's fault—she's turned you against me!"

"What did you call her?" He returned to her side in three long strides. "Listen, whatever is driving my decision, it's not Darcie's doing. I think you should leave her alone from now on because I will no longer make excuses for your rudeness nor will I tolerate it."

"Just leave me alone, Charlie. You have no place telling me what to do," Arielle snapped. "But you're going to be sorry you dumped me."

"If you say so," he shrugged and tried to compose himself for lunch. "I don't know if it'll compare to the huge feeling of relief I'm experiencing right now, though."

Arielle turned scarlet with fury, and despite her silence, Charlie felt her wrathful glare on his back as he walked away from her. Darcie gave him a tentative smile that transformed into a look of concern when he reached the Gryffindor table, but he shook his head imperceptibly and he knew she understood that they would talk later. River was stuffing his face but he moved over for Charlie and he put some food on his own plate, not feeling very hungry.

"Charlie," River inquired as they walked to Care of Magical Creatures together, "is everything all right, mate?"

"I chucked Arielle," he wanted this conversation over as quickly as possible. "I don't know if I want a girlfriend right now. You know, Christmas is coming up in a couple months and a girlfriend would just get her nose out of joint with the mistletoe around."

"Right," his friend nodded. "And what if someone wanted to ask Arielle out to Hogsmeade some time?"

"I would say good luck to him, because that kneazle has claws," Charlie laughed. "But since we did just break up, I hope that he would have some respect for our relationship."

"Right. Hey, you know when you say someone you're talking about me, aren't you?"

"Yes, River," he closed his eyes, slightly exasperated. "And when I say respect for our relationship I'm talking about you waiting a little while before you start dating her."

"Understood," River looked as though it had not been understood before Charlie had spelled it out for him.

It surprised Charlie that he eagerly anticipated speaking with Darcie that evening—he knew after being dumped by his first girlfriend, he had avoided talking to anyone. Being in the common room that night was severely uncomfortable because by that point news of his split with Arielle had spread. Also, she and her friends grabbed the choicest seats and even though there were free chairs nearby, Charlie thought it would be rather callous to sit next to them while her girlfriends told her how awful he was. He knew, however, that in a matter of weeks these girls would likely be flocking to him angling for a date.

One in the morning was the first time Charlie was able to sidle over and sit next to his young friend whose nose was buried in a book bigger than her face. She greeted him with a broad smile and closed the book, her face taking on a sympathetic expression as she put her hand on his forearm. He nodded and she put her head on his shoulder.

"So, we're broken up," Charlie realized he probably hadn't needed to say that, but he felt better putting it out there nonetheless.

"And how do you feel?" Her face showed no signs of happiness, but simply continued to look concerned.

"Kind of relieved, but also a little empty. Is that odd?"

"Charlie, no one can tell you the right way to feel after breaking up with a girl," Darcie shook her head, smiling sadly.

"Yeah, but I wanted to ditch her—shouldn't I be celebrating?" He persisted.

"You had a relationship that lasted over a year, you're going to experience some feelings of loss or grief."

"How do you always know the right thing to say?"

"It just comes to me," she explained. "Have you talked to River about this?"

"We discussed it this afternoon. I told him he could go for it as long as he waits a bit. That way, he's properly armed when Arielle comes keening with her siren's call," he smirked.

"So, now do friends now have to take sides? Because, I'm quite tempted to take Arielle's side on this matter. We are such close friends," Darcie giggled.

"You're on my side if I have to tie you down," he told her.

"I'll just have to get over losing her companionship," she sighed.

"Knowing you, you'll suffer through it with no difficulty," he guaranteed. "But let's not talk about her anymore. What are you working on tonight?"

"I'm getting all of my homework done for the month so I don't have to worry about anything for awhile," she informed.

"Darcie, you're done. I know you're done for at least this month for all your classes so what could you possibly be doing?" He asked, slightly exasperated.

"I'm just revising," she defended. "If I'm so far ahead, I should always be checking to make sure it's perfect. Also updating when I learn something new."

"You need to something fun," he exclaimed. "All you do is schoolwork!"

"So? I find it stimulating! Besides, what would I do if I wasn't doing schoolwork? I don't have other interests."

"Maybe you should cultivate other interests," he suggested. "You could learn a different language. I know you speak French, but you could learn Mermish. Maybe you could take up chess some day."

"I don't like to compete," she shook her head. "I have my own method of cheating…"

"Right, well, then remind me never to play anything against you," he laughed. "But you must have something that makes you feel happy or stimulated."

"I like talking to you," she told him. "I like to learn. That about sums it up."

"I'm flattered," Charlie smiled, "but there has to be something. Anything?"

"I like to dance, but there's nowhere I can dance," she confessed.

"You dance? I never knew that. Can I see?" He requested.

"Of course not," she replied shortly. "I told you, there's nowhere _to_ dance."

"Are you good?"

"Charlie, I hate to sound immodest, but I'm pretty good at whatever I try. I've been studying ballet since I could stand."

"Please, show me," he begged. "Just here."

"Well," her resolve wavered. "I have my Pointe shoes up in my trunk (I didn't know if I'd ever get the chance to use them here) so I could go get them."

"Yes," he encouraged.

He waited ten minutes for Darcie to make her way down the stairs from her dormitory and he realized what had taken her so long. She was in a leotard that was like a second skin and he reasoned it probably took some effort to don it. When she reached the common room she put on her shoes and began to dance without any music. Charlie knew nothing about dance, least of all ballet, but he could tell Darcie had skill—she was graceful, and composed, and she moved as though she had been doing it her entire life—and she was quite beautiful to watch.

"Darcie," he said when she had finished. "Darcie, that was incredible. I've never seen anything like that! Granted, I've never really seen any ballet, but I still know you're fantastic. What other talents are you hiding?"

"I wasn't hiding my dancing. I also did gymnastics," she bent backwards and touched the ground with her palms, "and I swim."

"You never told me any of these things!"

"I didn't think they were relevant."

"They're relevant to the person you are," he told her. "I'm your friend, I want to know these things about you. But I think we need to get you a hobby you can pursue at school."

"Charlie, I don't want a hobby!" She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him. "I am happy with being devoted to my studies. When I'm not doing schoolwork, I feel like I'm not being productive. I miss my physical activity, though. Dancing, gymnastics, and swimming made me feel like I was doing something almost productive."

"You could always swim in the lake," he suggested half-heartedly. "I'm sure the Giant Squid would love the company."

"And the meal that wanders so willingly across its path? I don't think so," she laughed.

"There's always running," he mused. "You could run inside the Quidditch pitch if no one's practicing and outside it if someone is."

"That's an idea," she agreed. "But, I'd look kind of stupid doing it by myself."

"Darcie," he knew what she was implying, "I'd love to, but I'm busy with Quidditch, and I've got my NEWTs, and prefect duties…"

"Right. Of course," she shook her head as if to clear it. "The twins and Lee would never agree to it. And I can't see Percy coming for a jog."

"You're killing me here," Charlie groaned. "Fine, I'll run with you."

"You will?" Her entire face lit up and she hugged him round the neck. "Oh, you're the best! I'm so excited for this. Shall we start tomorrow morning before breakfast? Six in the morning."

"Only if you stop grinning this instant and go to bed," he tried to hide his own smile as he watched her nod quickly and skip daintily up the stairs. He heard a door close up above and he massaged his forehead asking himself, "What have I gotten myself into?"

True to his word, Charlie rose a few hours later and dressed as warmly as he dared for their first morning run. In the common room waiting for him with a smile on her face and clad in a light green track suit was Darcie. She beamed at him and they walked together out to the Quidditch pitch. This ritual continued for several weeks during which Charlie felt himself gain confidence as a runner and feel better overall.

A week before Charlie's birthday, Darcie greeted him in the common room with a look of deep disappointment on her face. He gave her an inquisitive glance and she took his arm, leading him to a window where he saw the ground was covered in snow that looked approximately a foot deep and there were fat snowflakes drifting from the clouds. It was a relief to know that Darcie was not about to insist they still go for their run, but he felt badly that the weather stopped her from doing something she loved.

"Darcie, you don't want to try going for a run in that, do you?" He thought he should check to make certain.

"Of course not," she pouted. "But, Charlie, what are we going to do today?"

"I'm actually going back to bed," he told her.

'Fine," she tossed her hair and sat down in front of the fire.

Part of Charlie wanted to stay with her and keep her company because that was what he had signed up for when he agreed to run with her in the mornings, but a larger part of him kept returning to his bed in his dormitory. He kissed the top of her head and went back to bed until he was more rested. Having slept as much as he could, Charlie joined River in going to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Darcie, you need to try these tomatoes," George instructed, tipping some onto her plate. "All this running in the morning leaves you looking peaky. You didn't go today, did you?"

"No, George. Charlie and I decided that there's much too much snow out there for us to go for a proper run," Darcie laughed. "You think I look peaky?"

"Oh, yes," Fred concurred. "Running is such an unhealthy business. What did you do instead of going for your run?"

"Went back to bed like any sane person would, I imagine," Lee guessed.

"No, I was cross-referencing some parts of a Charms essay," she informed. "I wanted to make sure I said everything properly and made a note of things said properly that I didn't say. Understand?"

"Not a word," George replied happily. "Well, mates, I can't say I'm looking forward to Herbology this morning."

"You three are lucky," Darcie exclaimed, "I have Herbology with the Second Years right after breakfast and then after the break I have it with you lot. And the break is hardly enough time to trudge back to the castle and get properly warm before having to trudge back out to the Greenhouses."

"Now, Darcie, you brought it on yourself," Fred told her sternly. "You and your notions of getting ahead of us all. If you'd stuck to your place, you could be warm and toasty like the three of us all morning."

"Shut up," she blew a raspberry at him. "Well, it's time for me to prepare for my trek across the grounds. See you all later, then."

"Bye," the boys chorused.

First Year Gryffindors had History of Magic first thing that morning and George's thoughts followed Darcie out to the Greenhouses rather than Professor Binns back to some war or another. He did worry slightly that she looked too skinny these days, but she had always been skinny and he thought she was pretty either way. It was becoming harder and harder for George to view Darcie as one of the boys like Fred or Lee because he was developing certain feelings for her.

Arthur and Molly Weasley had schooled their children in basic knowledge from a young age—instilling the concepts of grammar, spelling, and mathematics—so George had never really been around any girls his own age. His little sister Ginny did not count and was given no consideration on the opposite sex front.

At Hogwarts, George met many girls in his Year, but most of them thought he, his twin, and their friends were just pranksters and refused to take them seriously. Darcie was different, though, she seemed to really and truly like them and enjoy spending time with them. She was also very pretty, really smart, and trustworthy…although she was occasionally lacking in the humour department and jokes and tricks were not her forte.

It was increasingly obvious to George that he fancied her desperately, but he had no idea what sort of recourse to take. He knew he could tell Fred anything and it would be taken to the grave, but he was unsure if this would be viewed as such. If Fred _and_ Lee knew, they would tease him mercilessly and it would be only a matter of time before Darcie knew of his crush on her. For some reason, her knowing how he felt seemed like the scariest notion he could contemplate.

The other obstacle was his brother Charlie: Darcie and Charlie could be almost inseparable by times, and extricating her from his grasp could be tricky. Fred, George, and Lee could do it because there were three of them, and until recently, Arielle had the power but that had fizzled when Charlie had (wisely) ditched her. There was also the fact that the two spent countless hours alone in the common room at night united by an inability to sleep. George could find no way of interrupting their time together because he always ended up falling asleep long before they did.

"George," Fred hissed, elbowing him in the side, "it's time to go."

"Huh?" George came out of his thoughts and realized that not only had the class finished, but he was in the way of the max exodus that occurred at the end of every History of Magic class.

"Away with the fairies?" Lee asked.

"Yeah," George admitted.

"Let's see if we can't find Darcie before Herbology," Fred suggested. "That is if she even bothered coming inside."

"I would," Lee decided. "It's that or be stuck in the Greenhouses alone with Professor Sprout talking about seeds and whatnot."

"I don't know, the temperature out there is rather biting. It would be a toss up for me, boys," Fred shook his head.

"Darcie knows better—she'll have stayed in the Greenhouses," George assured the other two. "I think we should just go out there and we'll see her eventually. The longer we put it off, the less inclined I am to even go outside."

"Too true," Fred agreed and, after fetching their cloaks, the three boys headed out.

It was a relief for George to head back to the castle after Herbology, and he, Fred, Lee, and Darcie all stood stock still when they entered and just soaked up the warmth. They hurried to put away their cloaks before regrouping in the common room and headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Unable to find four spots all together, Fred, George, and Lee went to sit by Charlie while Darcie managed to find a spot next to Percy. For a reason George was unable to comprehend, Darcie had taken a liking not only to Charlie but also to Percy.

"You lot were out in the Greenhouses this morning?" Charlie inquired as he took in their bright red noses. "Don't envy you that. But I have double Care of Magical Creatures coming up, so I don't feel too bad for you."

"Darcie had Herbology with the Second Years and us this morning," Fred told his brother. "While we were nice and toasty and having our morning nap in History of Magic, she was freezing her fingers off in the Greenhouses."

"Lucky girl," Charlie rolled his eyes.

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By the time Charlie's birthday had rolled around, the snow was deeper and the wind was colder. He had to admit he was really looking forward to coming of age and wondered what superb gifts he would receive. Darcie was frantically dropping hints about the present she was giving him, but refused to come right out and tell him. December eleven at almost midnight, Darcie and Charlie were not the only people in the common room, but they were sitting together because their companions had abandoned them for warm beds.

"How much longer?" Darcie inquired.

"Four minutes. You know, I do believe you are looking forward to my birthday more than I am," Charlie grinned at her.

"I'll be back," she promised him and darted off to her dormitory.

"Did you buy out a shop?" He looked at the gigantic box she carried.

"I simply could not decide what I wanted to get you, so I bought whatever I thought you would like," she explained.

"You didn't need to get me anything at all," he told her.

"Okay," she shrugged. "I'll just keep it for myself, shall I?"

"No, I'll take them," he replied quickly.

"If you're sure," she smirked and handed him the package. "How much longer?"

"Twenty seconds," he glanced at his watch. "Ten, nine, eight…"

"Seven, six, five, four…" Darcie continued.

"Three, two, one," they finished together.

"Happy birthday!" She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Now you must open your gift. Mine has to be the first."

"I don't know. I'm rather tired, I might just go to bed and wait to open all of my gifts in the morning," he teased.

"Don't you dare!"

Charlie took the large present from her, untied the bow, and started to rip the wrapping paper from it. Underneath the paper was a beautiful wooden chest with ornate brass decorations that opened easily. Inside the chest Charlie found some high quality sweets, a book about dragons Charlie had been wanting but unable to afford, and at the bottom was an incredible fur-lined cloak.

"Darcie," he breathed, "I can't accept all this."

"Why not?" Her face fell. "I picked it all out for you myself."

"This must have cost you a small fortune. I can't take it," he hated to say it because everything was so magnificent he _wanted_ to keep it.

"Charlie, I receive a disgustingly large amount of pocket money that I've been saving for years because Auntie Zelda wants me to learn how to save and she pays for everything. I can completely afford to buy you these things without a problem. Please take them," she pleaded. "Please."

"You make a compelling argument," he grinned. "Chocolate Frog?"

"Yum. Yes, please," she took it.

They munched on every-flavour beans and chocolate until they eventually decided to go to bed. Charlie woke up in the morning to find a pile of gifts by his bed, but even his special new watch from his parents hardly compared to Darcie's present. River gave him a book of defensive spells, Percy bought him a new satchel (surprisingly useful and not overly practical for once), and the twins had obviously sent to Zonko's for some Dr Filibuster's fireworks. He had to admit, though, that it seemed a little unfair that he had to spend his birthday attending classes, but he slogged through it. When it came to Care of Magical Creatures, he wanted very much to wear his nice new cloak, but he reasoned that it was not the best class for a fancy new cloak. After dinner, there was an impromptu party in the Gryffindor common room catered by Fred and George. No one had figured out how they continued to get away with sneaking food out of the kitchens, but tonight Charlie cared little for whatever illicit activities his brothers had committed.

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Now to start on chapter five. This one is going to take a little longer than the others. Please review and I hope you enjoy!

Add: I didn't realize there was an order for Quidditch matches (I feel like a bad fan), I just assumed they drew lots. I did some restructuring of a couple chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

One more chapter down. I hope it's up to scratch. Enjoy it and please, if you are going to say something that might hurt my feelings, be gentle and not too harsh.

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The Christmas holidays were at hand and Fred was really looking forward to stopping his studies—not that he ever really over-exerted himself. He, George, Percy, and Charlie had been planning on going home to visit their parents and younger siblings, but Ginny had contracted Scrofungulus and then infected Ron. Midway through December they had received this notification from his mother and she told them they would be spending Christmas at school. Darcie heard of their plight and immediately wrote a letter to her Aunt Zelda begging to be allowed to stay at the school. Zelda could deny Darcie nothing so Darcie told the Weasley boys she would be joining them.

"Fancy verbal footwork, Darcie," Lee complimented. It was to his disappointment that his parents had denied him the opportunity to stay alongside his friends.

"Well, she only has a big Christmas dinner because I ask for it—it's probably a relief that she doesn't have to worry about it," Darcie shrugged.

"We've got about a hundred house-elves here who are just itching to fix us a feast, it's no burden to them," George told her. "Besides, I'm guessing if food on a regular basis is any indication, the Christmas Feast is going to be better than anything your one little house-elf could make all by itself."

"Lucy may be only "one little house-elf", but she does the best she can," Darcie protested.

"Could she put out a spread like this everyday?" Fred demanded.

"Of course not, but we don't have hundreds of people to feed," she laughed.

"I wish I was staying here with you guys," Lee moped. "And who am I supposed to sit with on the train back to London?"

"Angelina and Alicia are going on the train," Darcie suggested.

"Lucky you, Lee. You can sit with Angelina and Alicia and listen to all the fresh gossip," George joked. "You should probably just take a nap."

"Good idea," Lee nodded.

The four First Years had helped Lee carry his belongings to the Entrance Hall to see him off on his journey and were waiting for everyone to leave for the train station. Darcie gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek and the twins shook his hand. He trudged off with the other home-bound students. When they had left, Darcie turned to Fred and George.

"So, boys, now what do we do?"

"Anything we want," George put his left arm around her shoulder and his right around Fred's. "It's just the three of us now."

"Not really," Fred pointed out, "there's still Percy..."

"Yay," George groaned.

"And Charlie," Darcie added. "But, I think we're the only Gryffindors staying."

"What did you get me for Christmas, Darcie?" George asked quickly.

"I've told you I'm not going to tell you," she responded, sighing. "I want it to be a proper surprise—let me alone."

"Fine," George relented.

"That's what you always say. You sound like you're not going to bring it up again, but you always do," Fred laughed. "Why don't you tell her what you got _her_ and maybe she'll bite the bullet and tell you what she got you just to get you off her back."

"No!" Darcie looked scandalized.

"I'm joking," Fred placated. "It's much more interesting to watch him squirm anyway."

"Thanks," George dropped his arms to his sides.

"Heading back to the common room?" Oliver Wood came up behind them.

"Hi, Oliver," Darcie breathed. "We just saw Lee off, so, yeah, we're just going to the tower. Are you going as well?"

"No," Wood shook his head. "I'm going home for the holidays."

"George, let's go to the library," Fred elbowed him in the stomach.

"Wh—" George was unable to finish his statement because his brother pulled him away from the other two. "Fred, what are you doing?"

"Just remembered a book I need for reference. I told McGonagall I'd do some research on, uhm, Animation Spells," he said quickly.

"Over the Christmas holidays?" George wondered.

"I had to promise that or she was going to give me detention for a month."

"I have to come why?"

"You just do. Let's just go."

Fred loved Darcie. He knew an unqualified statement like that could potentially put him at odds with a couple of people, but he loved her. He loved her in a way that was completely platonic—she was like a sister to him. Actually, sometimes Darcie proved better to have around than Ginny because she was his age and good at thinking on her feet. [*Author's Note: This is not a dig at Ginny! I'm a Ginny fan, but at the time this story is set she is eight years old and is probably not as much fun for her eleven year old twin brothers as she will be in the future.*]

It was probably a good thing Fred loved Darcie only in a platonic way because being in love with her would cause trouble between him and at least one of his brothers. George (who was so close to him he felt like an extension of Fred' being) was quite obviously smitten with the girl, and Fred would sooner cut off one of his own limbs than feud with George. Percy was hard to gauge; although it was evident he respected and admired her work ethic, it was hard to see anything further beneath his shell. Charlie was most likely a write-off as (despite how much time he and Darcie spent together after everyone went to bed) there was such a significant age difference. Lee, too, could be disregarded because he fancied Alicia Spinnet. Oliver Wood, however was a completely separate matter because Fred did not know him prior to meeting Darcie.

Fred prided himself on knowing the girl well even though they had only known each other since September. It was hard then that the biggest hurdle he faced in working out romantic interests was Darcie herself. She acted as though she was an open book, but she rarely gave away auxiliary secrets about what she was thinking other than what actually came out of her mouth and the facade never slipped. At first Fred thought it was blatantly obvious she fancied Charlie, but it was soon apparent that she lavished affection on those who gave her attention which put Fred back where had started. Being this concerned with who liked whom made him feel like a girl, but it was more interesting than his schoolwork. His gut, though, was telling him she was going to need a moment alone with Oliver Wood so Fred and George needed to leave.

When the twins got to the common room (Fred remembered that he had already taken a look at the the book), George decided his brother was mad and hoped their identicalness stopped short in that respect. Charlie was sitting in an armchair perusing the book about dragons Darcie had given him for his birthday so the twins sat on the arms of the chair to save him from the boredom. The elder Weasley gave his brothers a curious look.

"I'm pretty sure four of you left and only one of you was going on the train—this doesn't add up," Charlie mused. "Where's Darcie?"

"She's with Oliver Wood," George informed. "Fred lost his mind and dragged me all over the castle on a wild goose chase."

"What for?"

"Some book he forgot he read. He's mental," George shook his head.

Fred was saved having to come up with a response by the Fat Lady's portrait swinging open and the three boys watched Darcie enter the common room. She was slightly pink, but smiling, and he knew that he had done the right thing for his friend's happiness. He also knew that he had, in the long run, done the right thing for his twin because he could not see Darcie and George ending up together.

"Hey, Darcie," Fred grinned at her meaningfully and the two of them sat down on a couch near Charlie's seat.

"Thought I'd lost you," she patted the cushion next to her and George joined them.

"Fred went mad and had me running round the school with him," George repeated.

"Anyway," Fred seemed eager to change the subject, "everyone's gone now."

"Yeah, it's just a few of us left," Charlie agreed, closing his book. "So, Darcie, what were you and Oliver doing?"

Darcie gave Fred a panicked look that told him everything before she blurted out, "Charms!"

"What?" All three boys looked at her with confusion.

"I let Professor Flitwick borrow a rare book of mine and he loaned it to Oliver. He just wanted to chat about it and ask if he could keep it a little longer."

"Oliver Wood borrowing a Charms book, strange things happen every day," Charlie shook his head. "So, how many of you lot fancy a game of Exploding Snap?"

The day passed with a few hours of Exploding Snap, good food, and all the Gryffindor boys were persuaded by Darcie to build snow sculptures out on the castle grounds. Fred made a troll; Percy fashioned a small desk and chair; George's attempt at a broomstick was admirable especially once he charmed it to hover two feet above the ground; and Charlie worked hard but his dragon was complete rubbish; Darcie had worked quickly and tirelessly on her mermaid that was fairly true to those living in the Lake. Afterwards they were all flushed, freezing, and soaking wet so it was decided they would return to the Gryffindor Tower to dry off and thaw before dinner.

"So, what were you and Oliver really doing?" Fred whispered to Darcie under the dinner noise.

"Well," she looked around carefully to see if they were being monitored. "We were just talking at first, but then we saw Filch and knew he would think we were up to something if we were just standing around so we walked back to the common room when we found some mistletoe."

"Mistletoe?" Fred smirked.

"Shh. Yes, we found some mistletoes and some snogging ensued. But then he said he wanted me to be his girlfriend, and it was just going way too fast for me, and I told him that I wasn't looking for a boyfriend right now. So, I think I hurt his feelings," she frowned a little.

"While _I_ know a bit of Christmas snogging is no reason to go off the map and start making proclamations of love, you just drove the boy a bit mad, I'm sure," Fred teased. "Is he out of your system? Will you stop mooning over him?"

"I didn't moon!" She protested loudly.

"Why are you mooing?" Percy overheard incorrectly.

"Never mind," Darcie laughed, "Fred is just making fun of me. Have some potatoes."

"Thank you," Percy took the serving spoon from her.

"I have to say, I'm glad there are a lot fewer people around the school," Charlie admitted. "I was getting tired of dodging girls in the hallway who "happened" to be stopped under a sprig of mistletoe."

"Yes, skirting girls desperate for a kiss plagues us all," George rolled his eyes.

"Especially me! Those girls can be a pain," Darcie giggled.

Most of the Gryffindors stayed up later that night than usual because there were no classes the following day, but eventually they all trundled off to their beds. Charlie and Darcie remained in the common room as was typical, but he was unsure what they would discuss because there were no assignments needing clarification, no homework requiring elucidation. She seemed untroubled by these circumstances and was reading quietly through a book she had borrowed from the library.

"Charlie," she looked up at him from the book, "do you wish you were at home for the holidays?"

This was not a question he had anticipated and he had to take a moment to fully comprehend it and formulate a response. "If I was at home, I wouldn't be able to spend Christmas with you. And who would I kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve if not you?"

"You're taking the mickey," she frowned. "In all honesty, are you not upset that you won't be able to wake up Christmas Day in your own bed at your own home? That you will not get to open your presents with your parents and the rest of your siblings?"

"No, I am a little put out that I'm going to be here when I so rarely see my family, but Hogwarts is my second home and half of my siblings are here anyway," he shrugged. "Do you wish you were at home with your Aunt Zelda?"

"I wrote to her and asked to stay, remember? I suppose I am sort of sad I won't be with her, but my dear friends are here and it is probably easiest that I stay here instead of making her and Lucy work so hard," she replied. "I'll probably go for Easter."

"I don't know if you'll want to do that," he shook his head. "Teachers give piles of homework over the Easter Holiday."

"Charlie," she shook her head, amused, "I already _do_ piles of homework."

"Good point," he agreed.

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Christmas Day arrived and Charlie was struck at how empty his dormitory felt without his classmates in their beds. Fred and George had initially wanted to share a room with their brothers and Darcie, but everyone had found a flaw with that plan. Percy complained of Charlie's snores; Charlie thought it might not be right for them to sleep in his roommates' beds without their knowledge; Fred said that Darcie would probably be uncomfortable as the only girl; Darcie refused to sleep in someone else's bed; and George had discovered the hard way that boys were not allowed into the girls' wing. They had decided to simply sleep in their own rooms.

So Charlie woke that morning alone in his own room, wondered what the time was, and leaned over to check his watch on his bedside table. It was eight in the morning and he was pretty sure the twins would be in the common room waiting for everyone else to wake so they could open their gifts. Just as he was having this thought, Fred and George burst into the room chattering loudly and Charlie knew they were coming to rouse him.

"Charlie! Get up! Get up!" George cried.

"Happy Christmas!" Fred shouted. "Wake up!"

"I'm up," Charlie yelled. "Is everyone else?"

"We already went to get Percy," Fred sat down heavily on the end of Charlie's bed. "What are we going to do about Darcie?"

"What about Darcie?" Charlie asked.

"Well, what if she doesn't come out of her room?" George queried. "And we _clearly_ can't go and get her. What do we do?"

"We wait for her, George," Charlie responded.

Luckily, when the three boys reached the common room, Darcie was sitting in a chair by the Christmas tree and Percy looked as though he had gone back to sleep. There was a large pile of gifts under the tree and when Fred saw them, he gave a whoop and jumped the last three steps. George ran after him and Charlie just smiled at the scene. Darcie stood and beamed at Charlie as she watched him descend the stairs to greet his fellow students.

"Happy Christmas, Charlie," Darcie walked over to him and he hugged her.

"Happy Christmas, Darcie," he repeated and kissed her on the cheek. "Sleep well?"

"Yes," she nodded and took his hand, leading him to the couch nearest the Christmas tree. "I have to say, I'm glad we didn't all sleep in the same room—I have the feeling it was rather loud in Fred and George's dormitory."

"A little noise on Christmas Eve never hurt anyone," Fred proclaimed.

"It isn't, however, particularly conducive to sleep," Darcie smiled.

"I agree. In fact, they were quite loud enough where I was trying to sleep," Percy said pointedly.

"Sorry, Perce, we'll be quieter tonight," George promised, not sounding sorry in the slightest. "Let's start opening presents, shall we?"

"Why not. Fred, you're Father Christmas," Charlie directed. "Get everyone some gifts and we'll set to work."

Fred made certain everyone received presents addressed to him or her and they all began opening them. They took time now and then to admire an especially striking present, but other than those times, each was in a personal world. Charlie's mother sent each Weasley boy a pull-over in a different colour which George insisted they all put on without delay—Charlie's was grey.

Fred and George wanted to pool all their sweets together and start in on eating them, but Darcie stepped in as the voice of reason and reminded everyone that they had yet to eat breakfast. Percy eagerly agreed they should all go and get some real food into their stomachs before gorging themselves on sugar. All the Gryffindors went and dressed before heading to the Great Hall en masse for breakfast, the twins in the lead.

The day was spent enjoying their new possessions and admiring gifts the others received. Darcie had given all the boys a selection of Honeydukes' choicest sweets. To the twins, a grab bag of Zonko's and Gambol and Japes' merchandise; Percy had been given a gift token to Flourish & Blott's; Charlie was gifted with a small chest that locked as soon as it was shut and could only be opened by the key holder. The four brothers had pooled all their pocket money to purchase a music box that could play any tune you asked of it for Darcie. Charlie hoped it would allow her to practice her ballet more often than she had been able to do since she arrived at Hogwarts.

It was an enjoyable day for the students, but everyone knew that the best part of the day would be the Christmas feast. With great anticipation, the twins dragged Percy down to the Great Hall. When his brothers had left, Charlie pulled Darcie aside to give her a present he had picked out for her secretly.

"Darcie, I have something for you," he handed her a box.

"What is it?" She smiled up at him.

"Why are you asking? Just open it," he urged.

"Right," she started untying the bow. "A deck of cards. Thanks, Charlie."

"They're for fortune telling," he informed. "Even Muggles can use these, but I think you can put them to good use. I know Trelawney teaches them."

"Then, thank you even more," she hugged him around the waist.

"You're welcome," he put out his arm. "Shall we away?"

"We shall," she linked arms with him.

The Great Hall had looked beautiful that morning at breakfast, but when Charlie and Darcie entered it for supper it was stunning. He heard her gasp beside him—the house-elves had done an incredible job. There were ever-green garlands hung on the walls threaded with fairy lights, a dozen giant Christmas trees intricately decorated were placed around the room, and millions of candles glittered off the golden place settings. A sprig of mistletoe was slightly to Darcie's left, so Charlie nudged her to the side and kissed her on the cheek.

"What was that for?" She wondered.

"Mistletoe," he pointed above their heads.

"Oh. Come on, let's go get seats," she put her hand around his wrist and pulled him toward the Gryffindor table.

"Where have you two been?" George was obviously not expecting an answer as he hurried on with a stream of words. "Percy wouldn't let us start without you! But there's no food yet. Guess Dumbledore wanted everyone to be here. Now they are, so sit down!"

The meal that night was unrivalled in anyone's memory. Charlie said that even prior Christmas feasts could not compare to it, and everyone fully enjoyed themselves. After all of the turkey and wonderful food, no one was up past one following and Darcie and Charlie were the only two awake before eight in the morning.

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Let me know what you think. And I promise, for Ginny fans, there are a couple little more mentions of her being a kid, but that's what happens before you become the teenager everyone knows.


	6. Chapter 6

My second chapter off the top of my head. It took a little longer, but I had a stomach bug and an assignment due for class. Please tell me what you think.

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Everyone came back to Hogwarts and the sound hit Charlie like a brick wall; he missed the silence of the Holidays. He also missed the relative freedom from work and classes. It seemed as though the teachers were working the students harder than before Christmas to compensate for their time away from school. Professor McGonagall set the Sixth Years a four foot long essay the first day of classes.

Care of Magical Creatures was Charlie's first moment of respite from the demands of other classes and it was freezing cold outside which made it hard for him to appreciate the break. By the time only Charlie and Darcie were left in the common room, he felt he had enough work to last him until the snow melted. Darcie looked fairly calm so he assumed she was either completely fine or in shock.

"How did _your_ first day back go?" Charlie asked.

"Well enough," she shrugged. "I'm really glad I worked ahead before the Holidays."

"You're probably the only person with the foresight to have done that," he pointed out to her.

"That's the feeling I've been getting from the moans I heard earlier today," she nodded. "I hear Arielle and River are now a couple. Are you all right with that?"

"I don't think I have a problem," he shook his head. "Not that it's not a little strange, but I'll get used to it."

"Good. It had better not affect Gryffindor's chances of winning the Quidditch Cup," she ordered.

"Not from me! I finished that book you gave me for my birthday. It's not really as easy to slog through as fiction, but it was really interesting."

"I'm glad. Hey, how's your Romanian coming?"

"Let's say it's a good thing I was working on it over the Holidays because I doubt I'll have much time for it between now and exam-time."

"Charlie, you know you have to keep working on it or you'll lose it," Darcie frowned.

"I will," he promised. "I need to start this Transfiguration essay right now or I'll be leaving it until the last minute. I know, I know, I won't learn that way. So, give me a hand."

"You know I'll be of no use to you," she smiled. "But I will keep you company."

"Perfect," he pulled some parchment over to himself.

Charlie was immersed in his work and did not notice for some time that Darcie was not also working on an assignment. Instead, she was closely examining the cards he had given her for Christmas, turning over each one and scrutinizing it. He tried to ignore her and continue his essay, but his paper was boring and Darcie's movements were catching his eye. Sighing, Charlie put down his quill.

"You're not helping," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry?" She looked like he had startled her from a dream.

"All your hand waving is very distracting," he accused.

"Is it? I'm sorry," she repeated.

"What are you doing with the cards?" He inquired.

"Getting to know them," she replied simply.

"Couldn't you just have a tea party and make small talk?" He was curious.

"Oh, ha ha," she rolled her eyes. "I want to commit them to memory. And their meanings. Goodness, Charlie, it's quarter of three. I'm exhausted."

Charlie wished they could have talked for longer, but Darcie had a point about I being late so she bid him good night and went to bed. He did not have the same luxury of heading to his warm four-poster because he had not done enough work on his essay. After another hour, though, he knew it was time for him to go to sleep despite only having completed a foot and a half.

For Charlie, the next few weeks went by in a blur of watching the other teams play Quidditch, working on homework, and training for his team's match against Hufflepuff. He and Darcie were alone in the common room every night, but most of the time there was so much work to be done there was little time for chatting. It was February before the students were able to come up for air from the ocean of schoolwork.

"Darcie," Charlie began one night, "I should really thank you for the cloak you gave me. The wind is wicked these days."

"You're welcome," she beamed at him over the top of the essay she was proof-reading for George. "I don't envy you walking to Hogsmeade tomorrow."

"I'm not even really sure I'm going to go to Hogsmeade," Charlie admitted.

"You should go, Charlie," she urged. "I'd love to be able to go. It seems like Hogsmeade days see me and Lee in the library working on his homework."

"You and Lee? What about the twins?" Charlie supposed they would be in detention.

"They disappear. I've learned that if I think I shouldn't know what they're up to, I probably shouldn't ask," she rolled up George's paper and started working on her own homework for Potions.

"That is the best policy when it comes to Fred and George," Charlie was impressed with her decision. "It's best with them to know as little as possible. But they just leave you and Lee by yourselves? That sounds unfair."

"I think it is for Lee," she agreed. "It's not so hard on me because I'm used to being by myself, but I think it's slightly uncomfortable for him when it's just me and Lee."

"You really don't care if you're all alone?"

"No—I grew up an only child with an elderly aunt so I've learnt the upside of being by myself. Also, if I'm not involved, I can't be punished. Do I sound horrible?"

"Of course you don't. I don't think Mum would ever forgive Fred and George if they got another student expelled."

"Could they really get expelled?" Darcie's eyes were wide.

"Keeping in mind I have a similar policy to yours when it comes to my younger brothers, I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility. But they're not stupid and they know where to draw the line," he hoped it was true.

"Okay," she sounded wary.

They in silence and Charlie contemplated his young friend and her life in a way that he never had. She was essentially alone in her whole life—no siblings, no parents, and it seemed like she had had few friends before coming to Hogwarts. He knew his brothers and sister could be irritating, but he also knew he could not picture life without them. Darcie was so self-contained it was as though she could be complete in and of herself which was foreign to Charlie. She was perfectly content to be all alone with her books and her thoughts for hours and that confused him.

"What's so fascinating?" Charlie had not even been aware of his staring.

"Sorry—I guess I'm kind of tired," he apologized.

"You needn't apologize," she smiled. "I'm just worried there's something hanging out of my nose or stuck in my teeth."

"You're fine," he assured. "But, you know, I was just thinking about you and your life. I guess I never have."

"Why would you be thinking of my life? It's pretty non-descript," she laughed.

"I was just thinking about how lonely it must be sometimes," he pressed.

"Well, juxtaposed with your life, yes," she put aside her work. "For me, though, it's how my life has always been. I wasn't born with built-in playmates like you."

"There's no need to get defensive," he patted her shoulder. "I'm admiring you."

"Oh," she smiled, embarrassed. "Sorry, Charlie. I just feel alienated from my peers to begin with, and then you talk about my lonely life, and I get my back up."

"You feel alienated?" He took her hand.

"I don't want to discuss it. Wait—I'm Seeing something!" She knew exactly what would get his mind off of her situation.

"What do you See?" He wondered.

"You're walking up the stairs to bed," she teased.

"I'll back off," he surrendered. "That potion has moonstone in it, not topaz."

"I meant moonstone. Maybe I should See myself off to bed," she laughed.

"You won't—it's hardly after two!" He laughed, too, and they set to work.

Despite their banter about it, Darcie was still Seeing things on a regular basis and Charlie seemed the only one aware of it. One day at the beginning of February, she told him she had dreamt about Fred and George tossing dungbombs in a corridor and a Hufflepuff girl tripping and breaking her ankle. Four days later, it happened and she swore Charlie was the only one who knew about her dream. And at breakfast one morning Darcie saw Charlie hurriedly writing answers to an assignment for his Charms work and she told him not to worry because Professor Flitwick would be ill. Charlie had never heard of Flitwick getting sick before so he ignored her, but it turned out she was right and he was able to put down satisfactory responses on his work.

Regardless of what Charlie thought was going on in his brothers' minds, George had noticed something was off with Darcie; she seemed tired much of the time and she was developing dark circles under her eyes. She said she was sleeping fine, but George spotted her closing her eyes frequently in quiet parts of lessons. Fred and Lee echoed his concerns, but she would get irritated and brook no persistence on the matter.

"Darcie," George was piling eggs onto his plate, "you need to eat more than toast."

"Come on," Lee scooped up some tomatoes and his hand hovered above her plate.

"I'm not that hungry," she shook her head. "I'm fine with only toast."

"You're going to have some egg," Fred commanded.

"I am not. Leave me alone," she gave them a steely glare.

"Listen, you are eating one hard boiled egg before we go to Potions," George ordered her and put it on her plate. "Do it for me, please!"

"Fine," she scowled.

Breakfast was finished in awkward silence and uncomfortable tension as Darcie reluctantly ate the egg, Fred and George made certain she consumed it, and Lee just watched unhappily. The whole day passed in discomfort, but George thought he had snatched a victory in getting her to eat something with substance so he and Fred refused to be gloomy and Lee deemed it prudent to follow their lead. By dinnertime, though, Darcie's mood had improved and she seemed to have no problem making improvements on the Charms homework due the next day.

"George, do you understand locomotion at all?" Fred wondered as he surveyed all the markings Darcie had made on his twin's assignment.

"He understands it fine," she frowned at Fred. "I was simply pointing out areas where he could improve upon his work."

"Well, do you think you could do the same with mine?" Fred asked.

"Of course. Give it here, but you must start on next week's Potions essay while I do this," she commanded.

"It isn't due 'til next week," he complained.

"I know, but you should be starting on it," she muttered distractedly.

"Fine," Fred sighed. "Lee, what do you have on it so far? Let me see."

"No, I haven't begun yet," Lee shook his head.

"You've been working on it for an hour," George reminded.

"Shut up," Lee shot a glance at Darcie.

"Lee, you haven't written a word since you started," Darcie laughed softly, not taking her eyes off of Fred's work.

"Oh, right," he was relieved he no longer had to pretend he was working. "We could work on it together."

"I've finished your Charms, Fred. The four of us can work on the Potions paper," Darcie suggested.

"You haven't done it, Darcie?" George was very surprised.

"I did it weeks ago," she nodded, "but I'm sure if we're all putting our heads together I can milk out a few more details for mine."

"From us?" George laughed. "You're mad!"

"I am going to bed," Fred declared. "Boys?"

"Yeah, I'm not going to get anything more done tonight," Lee stood.

"But your essays!" Darcie protested.

"Are not going to be started this minute," George finished. "We'll do it tomorrow."

"Do you promise?" Her expression was earnest.

"I promise," George swore.

"Fine," she sighed, "go to bed. I have work to do anyway."

"Good night," each of the boys said it to her before leaving for bed.

Sometimes George wondered if Darcie was taking too many subjects, had too many classes to attend, and not enough time to just relax. She was doing two years at once which meant that seven courses being done by the Second Years were added to the seven courses being done by the First Years for a total of over a dozen. Fred, Lee, and George agreed that was far too great a number to be tackled by one person alone. Darcie, though, said it was stimulating and she enjoyed learning so it was hardly a burden.

George was content to let Darcie (who was clearly mad, but well-adjusted) go about her business because it made her happy and it bothered no one. In fact, he, Fred, and Lee often profited from her devotion to education by having her review their assignments which always resulted in better grades than they would have received without her help, so they had no problem seeing her go on her merry way. But now she appeared like death warmed over and they were leaving her in the common room at almost midnight not looking as though she was going to bed anytime soon. It worried George and he thought he should force her to talk about what was going on with her. The last thing he wanted was for her to drop dead of starvation and exhaustion.

The next day was Friday and that evening both Fred and Lee had detentions with Snape—George had been spared because he had been working with Darcie. That evening, the two remaining First Years went meandering around the castle before they were supposed to be back in the common room. George saw this was the opportunity for which he had been waiting.

"Darcie," he started and sucked in a breath.

"Yes, George?" She raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on with you these days? You have circles under your eyes, you look tired _all the time_, and you hardly eat anything," he listed.

"It's nothing," she smiled at him and shook her head.

"It is not nothing!" He protested. "Fred, Lee, and I are really troubled about you."

"Don't be," she laughed. "Thanks for your concern, but I'm completely fine."

"Darcie, you don't have to put on a brave face for me," he stopped and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm your friend, you can trust me."

"George," she took his hand in her two hands, "this is not a matter of trust. There's really nothing the matter with me. You're my best friend, and I would trust you with my life if I had a problem. I don't have a problem, so there's nothing to confide."

Darcie's pride was really starting to annoy George because he was truly very worried about her and she gave him no credit for it. He loved her in many ways and for many reasons, but she was being so stubborn that his soft spot for her was taking quite a hit. It seemed as though she would permit him to ask anymore questions about the subject, so he just had to accept there was nothing doing.

"I'm your best friend?" That thought warmed George's heart.

"Of course, the four of us are so close. I love you all," she kissed his cheek.

"I suppose I'm rather fond of you," he replied.

Darcie, Lee, Fred, and George were almost inseparable and that was how George liked it. Of course there were the times that Darcie's gender hindered her ability to go certain places and participate in certain activities, but that was something to which they had all become accustomed. There were also moments when Fred and George wandered off to explore with their secret map, and trying out all the passages they saw on it.

Hogsmeade days fell into the latter category because on one such adventure, they had found one of the passageways (behind the statue of a witch) led straight into the storeroom of the sweets shop in the village. It was hardly prudent for Fred and George to be seen wandering Hogsmeade on any given day, but they risked it on days when the older students swarmed the place and a couple of extra boys would go unnoticed. Actually, the hardest part of getting to Hogsmeade was losing Lee and Darcie. Lee, in particular, was hard to shake because he knew if he was left alone with her, Darcie would drag him to the library for the day.

So it was with only small pangs of guilt that Fred and George snuck off down the secret passage to Hogsmeade. They emerged in the storeroom wearing identical mischievous grins. Waiting until there was a group in front of the door, the twins entered the shop.

"Well, George, where to?" Fred rubbed his hands greedily.

"Perhaps we should buy some sweets for Darcie and Lee back at the castle," George suggested, imagining their friends' smiles.

"George, you know Darcie would wonder how we got them," Fred reminded.

"True," George agreed. "She'd probably track down anyone we said bought them for us. I believe she may be too clever for our own good, Fred."

Chuckling, the boys left Honeyduke's for their favourite place in Hogsmeade. Zonko's was their idea of heaven on earth and, even though, it had a price tag, their wildest dreams were attainable there. It was also the safest spot in the village for them as Percy thought it life-threatening and Charlie was simply not interested. No one else who saw them would care.

They made certain they would not be the last students in the village by heading back to Honeyduke's early. When they returned to the castle, they had to dispose of their cloaks before going to find the friends they had left behind. Unfortunately, they met Lee on the way to the Gryffindor tower. He grinned at them in obvious relief and ran to catch up with them, looking curious.

"Why are you two wearing your cloaks? And where have you been?" He wondered.

"We went for a walk," Fred said quickly. "Where have _you_ been?"

"Darcie got me to start and finish my Potions paper," he informed them, looking miserable. "Why didn't you ask me to come along?"

"Because you need the best grade you can get in Potions, according to Snape," Fred joked. "Isn't that what he said the other day in detention?"

"Shut up," Lee scowled. "Look, I told Darcie I was getting my Transfiguration book and come right back to the library. You two need to come with me. I need you to come back with me—she's doing my head in. I am so bored!"

"Yeah, we'll go with you," George nodded. "I personally need to work on my Potions essay as well, and if I can get Darcie to help me as much as she obviously wants to help us, I might be lucky enough to receive the stellar grade I need."

"It doesn't help Snape hates Gryffindors," Lee muttered.

"Not Darcie," Fred added. "But he knows her family. Ah, the connections our family could have made if only we were the kind of bastards who think blood purity is the most important thing in life."

"If only," George echoed and Lee laughed.

The three boys took their time depositing Fred and George's cloaks and retrieving necessary textbooks, parchments, and quills. Soon enough, though, it came time for them to join Darcie in the library and set to work on their homework. Madam Pince gave the three of them a stern look as they entered and they slunk over to where Darcie was happily reading her Charms text.

"Darcie," George whispered to her and she looked up, smiling. "Darcie, I need your help with my essay, please."

"Me, too, please," Fred begged.

"And if you could give me a hand with me Transfiguration, I would be in your debt forever," Lee pleaded.

"Of course I'll help you all," she nodded. "Sit down, though or we'll all get thrown out of here. I don't really fancy going to the common room. We have an hour to work on our stuff before we go for supper."

"Hooray," Fred and George intoned in unison and Lee smiled.

"Now, what do you have done up to this point?" She put out her hands for papers, but received only sheepish grins from the twins.

"It's just that we knew we wouldn't be able to even start on them without your help," Fred began.

"And we didn't want to start something and have you scrap it all," George finished.

"Of course," Darcie responded sceptically. "Everyone sit down and we'll get started on your work."

~:+:~

"I have something for you," Charlie went to sit next to Darcie after everyone had gone to bed that night.

"Why?" She looked torn between confusion and delight.

"I saw it in a shop and I immediately thought of you," he explained and brought out a brown paper bag. "I can't take it back, so you had better accept it."

"Oh, Charlie, it's beautiful," she breathed as she brought out an ornately gilded blue journal. "But it must have cost a small fortune."

"You don't want to talk about how much I paid. I want you to fill it with all the thoughts in your head that are too scared to come out of your mouth. I don't need, nor do I want, to know what they are," he promised. "Something has been bothering you—don't tell me you're fine—but I can see you won't talk about it. Just write it down and you'll get it off your chest."

"Okay," she nodded.

Charlie made certain he went to bed at a reasonably early hour because he knew she would turn in as well. Everyone noticed in the coming days that Darcie was looking more and more rested and eating more at meals. George was happy to see her looking well and Charlie hoped she was putting his present to good use.

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Okay, this chapter turned out darker than I wanted, but things don't always go the way I want. The next one is already shaping up lighter. It just needs to be put into my laptop. Oh I want to thank all of you who have added me to favourites and alerts! I would keep writing, but knowing other people like my work spurs me forward.


	7. Chapter 7

A wrapping up of the school year. I try my hardest to stay true to what Rowling has written while still playing with what could have been. Thanks for the reviews I've already gotten and more would not go unappreciated.

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Valentine's Day meant nothing to Charlie that year because he had no girlfriend so he spent the day with his brothers and Lee in the library with Darcie. She was avoiding Oliver Wood who seemed determined to get her alone, the First Year boys followed her, Percy claimed he had planned on working in the library all day before the others had decided to do the same, and Charlie had nothing better to do. The six of them kept a low profile for the whole day and, the next day, they went about their lives unaffected.

The following Saturday was a Quidditch day to which Charlie had been looking forward—he had been practicing for this match for so long. He was so happy to finally be back playing the sport he loved, he spared no thought for nerves as he pulled on his Quidditch robes before marching out onto the pitch. It was a long match that was tied at one goal apiece for almost an hour while no one was able to score and Charlie and the Hufflepuff Seeker were unable to find the Snitch. Eventually, Charlie spotted it and ended the game.

Charlie was secretly dreading the first of April as it usually allowed Fred and George to go completely mental with their tricks. No one could tell them off because it was their birthday, but they were almost intolerable when it came around so Charlie feared it. Lee had experienced the circus of the Weasley twins' birthday, but Darcie was going to be entirely unprepared for the madness.

The day arrived with much excitement—heralded by the twins' antics growing louder and more frequent—and Charlie was grateful the twins only had until noon to play all the pranks and perform all the stunts they desired. It dawned bright, crisp, and, for Charlie, loud. For once in recent memory, Charlie was sleeping in and was even the last one still abed in his dormitory room.

"Charlie!" Fred and George hollered as they stormed the bedroom.

"What? What's going on?" Charlie sat up and looked around.

"It's our birthday!" George cried.

"Really?" Charlie blinked groggily. "Already?"

"Yes!" Fred answered. "We want to open our gifts, but Darcie said we can't until you come down. You have been asleep long enough."

"Have I?" Charlie climbed out of bed and stretched.

"Yes! Now let's go downstairs," George led the way.

"Good morning everyone," Charlie was still in his pyjamas as he reached the common room and saw Percy, Darcie, and Lee waiting for him.

"Hi, Charlie," Darcie looked like she was the only one who was awake of her own accord. "I see they made good on their promise and woke you."

"They certainly did," he nodded.

"Now, before they explode, should we let the twins open all these parcels?" Lee asked. "I think they're rather desperate."

"We could make conversation for a little while longer," Charlie grinned at the expression on the twins' faces.

At Percy's insistence, they permitted Fred and George to open the pile of gifts that had been place on an armchair. Their parents had sent many home-made treats and pieces of hand-made clothing; Charlie gave them each promises to work on their flying with them so they could be assured of doing well in tryouts for the positions of Beaters in the next school year; Darcie wowed everyone with her gifts of a beautiful gold chain with an amulet that was supposed to bring wariness against deceit for George, a quill that only had to touch ink once to write forever for Fred, and a bag of merchandise from Zonko's apiece.

Charlie had reserved the pitch that day for Quidditch practice months ago because if his mother had any idea he was nearby while his brothers misbehaved, it would certainly mean his head. Darcie had claimed to have a headache and spent the day in her dormitory. Percy sequestered himself in the library like he had on Valentine's Day in order to distance himself from the havoc his brothers were surely going to wreak that day. The day did eventually end and Charlie was able to breathe for another year.

Everyone in Gryffindor was expecting Charlie to lead his house to victory for the Quidditch Cup and the pressure was starting to get to him. His house had not won the Cup the entire time Charlie had been playing, let alone while he had become captain, but every year he felt the eyes on him—waiting for him to be the leader they wanted him to be. The problem was that Charlie was unsure if he could be that leader. It was harder than usual for him to sleep and difficult for him to concentrate on his classes.

"Charlie, you're not working on your essay," Darcie looked over her book with an expression of concern. She was looking better, but Charlie was worried she was sleeping too little because she would stay up with him.

"What?" He was startled from his thoughts. "No, I know. It's just that I've been thinking about Quidditch."

"Clearly," she chuckled.

"Can I ask you something?" Charlie had been holding the question back, but now he had to ask for the sake of his sanity.

"You know you can ask me anything. It's whether or not I choose to answer that you should worry about," she warned.

"Do you know if we're going to win the final game?" He knew he sounded petty.

"Oh, Charlie," her face fell. "Do you want to know that? Nothing is written in stone."

"Do you know?" He pressed.

"No," her voice held no emotion.

"If you say you don't, you don't," he was suspicious, but he could not disprove what she had told her.

"You're nervous?" Charlie knew it was more a statement than a question.

"We have a good team," he replied.

"It's a great team, Charlie," she assured him. "I know you'll do well. We beat Slytherin and Hufflepuff."

"Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff, too," he pointed out wryly.

"You will not have your confidence bolstered, will you?" She demanded, laughing. "Don't you worry too much. What will be will be."

"I always thought wisdom was supposed to passed from age to youth, but I seem to get more than I give with you."

"I've heard it said that sometimes wise words come from the mouths of the young. They just tumble out. I get lucky."

"And I'm lucky I get to be around to hear the pearls fall from your lips," the statement sounded more flirtatious than sincere.

"Are you ready for your exams?" Darcie's face had registered no expression of interpreting his words in a manner out of the ordinary.

"They haven't finished teaching yet us, Darcie," he reminded. "You can't be ready! Can you be ready?"

"I've been prepared for the First Year ones for a couple of weeks. I'm done all my assignments for both years," she admitted.

"You're just waiting now?" He was in awe of her dedication. "But you're always working on something!"

"Extra credit. I need something to do," she looked embarrassed.

"You could learn Romanian," he wondered if she would want to visit him.

"That's a great idea!" Her face lit up. "I'm allowed to come see you?"

"You certainly may, if Auntie Zelda is amenable," he promised. "And if you're learning, you can help me."

"I'll certainly try to keep you on top of it," she pretended to look stern. "Because I know you've been slacking."

"Just a little," he confessed. "Hey! I've had Quidditch, and prefect duties, and my schoolwork. I'm busy!"

"I know," she smiled and he knew that she did understand. "Charlie, I do have a sense of humour. But you must to run with Fred and George."

"You do. You know those boys adore you. I bet they would do anything for you. All you would need to do is ask," Charlie thought out loud. "I would, too. Say the word."

"I don't need or want anything right now," she beamed at him.

"Darcie, it's time for bed," he declared. "I should at least try to sleep. A few hours in my bed with my eyes shut could be nice. You should go, too. Sleep tight."

"Good night, Charlie," Darcie stifled a yawn and left for her dormitory.

The weeks leading up to the final Quidditch match were extremely tense throughout the castle and not just for the players. All the students were taking sides and even the teachers seemed to have picked favourites to win; McGonagall, as Head of Gryffindor, was checking in with Charlie about their team's chances. He constantly wondered if Darcie was keeping information from him, but he knew how she had reacted the first (and last ) time he had asked her which deterred him from asking again.

Judgement Day came on a clear, mild, spring morning that provided perfect conditions for Quidditch. Charlie could eat nothing, but Darcie forced him to have two pieces of toast and some juice. Fred and George kept telling him the match would go well, Lee nodded in agreement, and the rest of the team looked as sick as Charlie felt. Soon enough it was time to make their way out to the Quidditch pitch.

"Charlie, I believe we determine our own futures," Darcie whispered to him as he hugged her.

"Thank you," he squeezed her hand.

George was really looking forward to the Quidditch match that day, and he wanted to be certain he, Fred, Lee, and Darcie had good seats. Charlie had looked really nervous at breakfast, but George knew that some degree of nerves could be beneficial. He just wondered what degree was good and what degree Charlie was experiencing.

"Darcie, you have good feelings," Fred began as they found places in the stands, "how do you think it'll go?"

"A win for Gryffindor, of course," she grinned, but George had the sense that it was fake.

"So, we're 20 behind right now," George mused. "We beat Hufflepuff 160 to 10 and Slytherin 210 to 40. They beat Hufflepuff 220 to 90 and Slytherin 170 to 130. As long as we're 20 ahead when Charlie catches the Snitch, we should be fine."

"Charlie will need to catch it early to prevent them scoring too much," Lee added.

"He will," Fred proclaimed.

"Hush, they're coming out," Darcie peered down at the players.

The nicest thing George could say about the match was that they had won and they had caught the snitch. It was frustrating that they could win the game, but lose the Cup: Oliver Wood had been hit in the head with a Bludger a few minutes into the game and plummeted to the pitch, and Ravenclaw had scored 17 times. The Gryffindor Chasers were all over the map and scored three times. Everyone was glad when Charlie caught the Snitch, ending the game.

Charlie felt like rubbish. He had led his teammates to victory in a battle, but a defeat in the war. And, while no one said anything to indicate they shared his sentiment, he thought it was all his fault. He wanted to crawl under a rock and hide there until he no longer felt so awful.

"Everyone is so happy you won the match, truly," Darcie assured Charlie as she sat down next to him on a seat farthest from the revelry.

"We lost the Cup, Darcie," he mumbled. "We lost last year and we lost this year. It's a great team, but we lost which means the problem's with the leader."

"It does not! You're being overly dramatic. Just think, you won every match this year and the only reason Ravenclaw was able to score at all was that poor Oliver was knocked to the ground. You caught the Snitch and your Chasers were scoring," she explained.

"Were you keeping this from me?" He just wanted to fill the silence, but he thought he sounded accusing.

"I'm still not going to talk about it," she shook her head. "If I had told you that Gryffindor was going to lose, you might have resigned yourself to that fate, not tried, and lost the match. If I had told you Gryffindor was going to win, you could have not given your all just because you thought you would win."

"You're right, as usual," he smiled.

"I know," she sighed. "I visited Oliver in the Hospital Wing before supper. He's beating himself up fairly badly—you should talk to him and tell him it isn't all his fault. Like I'm doing with you."

"You're doing a good job of it," he put his arm around her shoulders. "I should just send you to him. I'll stay here and hope to die."

"No!" She looked astonished at the very idea. "If you want me to come with you, I will, but you need to speak to him."

"I'll go by myself," he refused and stood up. "I think I should go to bed."

"You can't just yet," she pulled his arm, preventing him from walking away. "You need to stay and look happy for the sake of our house."

"I don't want to," he frowned. "I lost the Cup. How can I stay here and look happy when I feel so dreadful?"

"Because it's our last time to have a bit of a party before our exams, and you actually _won_ the match! Understand that!" Darcie's cheeks were pink.

"Fine," he was taken aback at her vehemence. "Will you stay with me?"

"If you want," she consented.

Charlie remained in the common room for another half hour having people shake his hand for winning the match and pat him on the back for losing the Cup. Darcie trailed behind him like a tiny shadow, rarely speaking, but never leaving a certain radius of Charlie's personal space. She allowed him to go to bed once people started trickling out of the room for bed; he gave her a hug before she climbed the stairs toward her own bed.

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The air in the castle seemed to be thinner over the following weeks, people were really beginning to worry over their impending exams, and the teachers were making sure not one student forgot the importance of the evaluations. Charlie and Darcie had company in the common room later than to which they were accustomed while all the students were stuffing their brains full of information. Later, though, they would sit in front of the fire and Charlie would watch Darcie scanning her notes in a mad attempt to commit to memory everything she had learned since September.

"I thought you said you were ready for your exams," Charlie somewhat enjoyed seeing her normally calm demeanour marked with fear he knew was unjustified.

"I am, but what if there was something that I missed? Something I wrote down, but didn't think important. If I know everything (no matter how insignificant), I'll be all right," she reasoned and Charlie smiled.

"Darcie, don't you think at some point you'll have all the knowledge you possibly can fit in your brain? When you can't fit anything more in there?" Charlie knew by the look of disdain on her face that she could not agree less with him. "All right, all right, do what you want, but I'm done for the night. I'll wait here with you, but you're going to have to sleep for a few hours before class in the morning."

"I know. A tired brain is of no use to me. But I've heard that information you acquire before bedtime stays with you," she informed.

"Not if your brain is too tired to properly absorb it," he rolled his eyes. "You have to admit, if you're not able to get the information in, it won't stay in there or be easy to recall."

"I'll be fine," she frowned. "Unless you insist on badgering me until I go to bed."

"Sorry," he replied, abashed.

"Don't look so sad. You look like I hit you," Darcie exclaimed.

"I don't like to hurt you," he tried to look less stricken.

"I'm just a little fixated," she confessed. "I think nerves are running a little high tonight. Perhaps it's time to go to bed."

"That's probably the smartest thing you've said this evening," he gathered up his belongings.

"Ha ha, tremendously funny, Charlie," she rose from her seat.

Classes finished up for the school year with no fanfare because everyone was so obsessed with final preparations for their examinations. A couple First Year girls had reportedly burst into tears when Snape had criticised their potions in class. Charlie felt the most sympathy for Darcie who had to write two exams a day, perform at least one practical exam each day, and be kept in what amounted to solitary confinement to prevent her passing information to fellow students. She told Charlie that Dumbledore had intimated to her that he was not worried about her honesty as much as the desperation of young people facing tense situations.

The night exams finished there was an explosion of noise in the Gryffindor common room (largely due to Fred and George let off a lot of steam) as pupils were free from the stress of tests and untroubled about the results. Darcie, who had been appearing well-rested and eating more, was pale and nervous-looking again. By the end of exams, though, she was looking gaunt but relieved.

George had been slightly anxious about his friend's health during the days they were writing their exams, but he had been more concerned about memorizing the facts for his History of Magic results. He knew he should have spent less time daydreaming and more time listening to Professor Binns' wheezy voice. Darcie had made certain he, Fred, and Lee would have at least a cursory familiarity with the course material before writing the test.

The First Years eagerly awaited their first End of Term Feast at Hogwarts not only for the food, but also for the conclusion of their first year. Fred and George had done surprisingly well in everything except History of Magic which they had scraped through and their Potions practical on which they already knew they had done poorly. Lee had done well enough, especially, on his Transfiguration practical. They had assumed that Darcie would fly through every single exam, but it appeared she had obtained nothing lower than a ninety-eight percent (and that on her Second Year History of Magic exam because she misnamed a warrior) on anything she had performed.

"So I assume they're letting you move on to Third Year then," Charlie remarked to Darcie over dinner.

"Yes," she beamed at him. "I don't think the boys are too happy about it, though. I think they were hoping I would be sticking with them."

"Are you upset you won't be going into Second Year with them?"

"I only attended a handful of classes with them this year, so I don't know that it makes that much of a difference," she shrugged.

"What are you going to study next year?" Charlie inquired.

"Third and Fourth Year Potions, Charms, Astronomy, Herbology, and Divination. Plus Third Year Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy, and History of Magic," she listed off to him.

"How many courses is that? Fewer than this year?" Charlie tried to count the ones he could remember.

"Not exactly," she would not meet his eye.

"Not exactly? Either it is or it isn't," he looked at her closely.

"Okay, it's fourteen courses," she gave him a pained look.

"That's the same amount you took this year," he was surprised. "I thought you wanted to take fewer courses next year."

"I was going to take fewer courses, but it's the way to get done what I want to do," she explained. "I'll make it through."

"You'll make it through, but will you be happy?" He wondered.

"You're going to ruin the wonderful feast that has been prepared for us, Charlie," she warned him. "Just stop worrying so much."

"Charlie, are you pestering Darcie with mundane minutiae?" Fred leaned across the table and grinned at him. "You're going to be a damper on the party."

"Yeah, Charlie, lighten up," George piped up eagerly.

Charlie resigned himself to the fact the younger students were probably right, and that Darcie knew what she was doing. Then River began talking to him about their plans for the fall in terms of Quidditch and Charlie's mind turned from Darcie. It was with excitement that he fell asleep that night—looking forward to the summer and seeing his family again.

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My internet is really spotty these days and it seems like my typing is faster than my connection. I'm already mostly done the next chapter. I hoped you enjoyed this instalment and thanks for taking the time to read my story.


	8. Chapter 8

Charlie said goodbye to Darcie before the students left the school for the train because he was unsure whether or not he would see her on the train. It as harder to do than he had anticipated and she made it no easier for him by smiling at him as though she had to force it onto her face. He promised to write and she did too, but he doubted a few owls would make a good enough substitute for their evening chats. She kissed him on the cheek and he scooped her up in a big hug, savouring the moment; then she ran off to join Fred, George, and Lee so they could be assured of getting a boat together.

"So," George began when the four of them (rather damper than they had been in the castle) were settled into a carriage, "how are we going to convince your great aunt Zelda to let you visit over the holidays?"

"I have no idea," Darcie looked upset. "I don't mean disrespect, but I don't think Auntie would be excited to hear from your parents."

"Being blood-traitors?" Fred asked and she nodded miserably.

"Well, then, don't let her know it's an invitation from them," Lee advised.

"That's brilliant!" Darcie exclaimed. "But how would your parents feel about having me to stay?"

"There are four of us—George and me, Charlie, and Percy—I think we'd work it out," Fred assured."Okay," Darcie nodded, this time more excitedly.

"So how do we convince your Aunt Zelda that we're not who we are?" George inquired.

"Well, Auntie is mostly blind so she can't read or write letters. I do it for her. I can always tell her the wrong name and write the proper one," Darcie mused.

"You'll need to come up with a good back story. I doubt she'd let you go off to the home of strangers," pointed out Lee.

"Feray" Fred ejaculated.

"Excuse me?" Darcie raised an eyebrow.

"We can be the Ferret family (spelt f-e-r-r-e-t, but said f-e-r-a-y)," he explained.

"A French pure-blood family," George added. "We're foreign and moved here so one or both of our parents could work at the Ministry."

"That would make your family sound important," Lee agreed. "You would have to talk them up a bit before an invitation came so your aunt would let you go."

"And since Mum would probably write to her, you'd have to read Ferret, and if you write back, it would have to be addressed to the Weasley family," George reminded.

For the remainder of the journey, the First Years worked on the plan to enable Darcie's visit. Luckily, Lee lived near The Burrow and was permitted to arrive on short or no notice. There were only two interruptions during the trip. The first was Percy who wanted to bid Darcie farewell and was delighted at the idea of her coming to stay. Their second (and much less expected) guest was Oliver Wood who insisted on talking to Darcie alone and outside of the compartment. When she returned, the boys teased her relentlessly about Oliver fancying her.

"Look," Lee cried out, "we're coming into the station."

They all carried their trunks out in a subdued manner. No one looked less enthusiastic about returning home than Darcie, but they were all put out at having to separate. Quick hugs were exchanged on the platform as well as promises of writing as often as they could.

Charlie had to admit that the idea his brothers, Lee, and Darcie had cooked up was pretty cunning. He and the twins agreed it was better not to let Percy in on all the details of the plan because he had a history of snitching, and that would ruin everything they all wanted. The tack the four brothers decided to take was to mention Darcie as often as possible, and in the most flattering light, in front of their parents for a couple of weeks; eventually, they would say how much they missed her and beg for her to be invited for as long as possible. For her part, Darcie was acting much the same way in an attempt to establish a good basis from which her aunt Zelda would be more willing to grant her permission.

A month into the summer holidays, Mr and Mrs Weasley succumbed to the pressure from their sons and agreed to write to Zelda. Charlie had taken a drastic step and "let it slip  
to his mother how lonely for people nearer her own age Darcie had sounded in her most recent letter. It was true that she had said she missed her school friends, but she never seemed upset that she only had her aunt. So, in due time, Mrs Weasley sent an introductory letter to Great Aunt Zelda that was promptly followed by a friendly response. After the receipt of that letter, Charlie, Fred, George, and Percy tirelessly asked their parents to write back with an invitation.

In The Burrow, the week leading up to Darcie's arrival was crazier than usual in Charlie's opinion. Percy had mentioned that Darcie was wealthy and had a house-elf and Molly had jumped into high gear cleaning the entire house. Fred and George were so elated there was a record-breaking amount of foolishness that only Mr Weasley threatening to call off the visit entirely calmed down their antics. Ginny too seemed to be greatly excited about Darcie's arrival—probably she was looking forward to having another girl around the house. It was with a great deal of anticipation that the whole Weasley family (minus, of course, Bill who was in Egypt) awaited Darcie's arrival one Sunday in August. It had been agreed that Darcie would be at The Burrow at quarter to twelve Sunday morning. She would be traveling by Floo Powder. This had been planned by the twins so Darcie's great aunt would not have to meet the Weasleys and ruin the whole operation they had been orchestrating for weeks.

Percy was, surprisingly, the first to take up the vigil by the fireplace, at eleven fifteen, and he claimed to be reading. Ginny was next, followed by Fred and George who were noisily making plans for the upcoming week; Mrs Weasley bustled round the room doing last minute tidying, around eleven thirty-five; Charlie, who had been checking his watch every so often (he thought it felt like five minute increments, but his watch said only forty-five seconds since he last looked), forced himself to wait until five minutes before she was due to arrive before he joined the watch; with only minutes until Darcie came, Mr Weasley and Ron entered the room. At precisely eleven forty-five, a young girl appeared in the fireplace with a trunk.

"Darcie!" Fred and George shouted in unison.

"Hi, guys," Darcie smiled at them, but walked over to their parents. "Mr and Mrs Weasley, I'm so grateful you invited me to stay this week. Your hospitality is heart-warming."

"Welcome, Darcie," Arthur shook her hand.

"Yes, welcome, Darcie," Molly drew her into a hug.

Fred and George were the first to receive hugs and kisses from Darcie, all three grinning broadly. Percy had made a motion as though to shake her hand, but she wrapped her arms around his neck, and when they pulled apart, Percy was quite red. Charlie waited patiently for Darcie to turn her attention to him when she had been introduced to Ginny and Ron, Mrs Weasley hurried off to whip up lunch. Finally, Darcie made her way to Charlie who greeted her with his arms open wide.

"Hello, Charlie," she beamed up at him before throwing her arms around his waist.

"Hi, Darcie," he kissed the top of her head. "How're you doing? Good trip?"

"I'm doing pretty well. The trip was interminable."

"Of course it was. Hey, did you get taller? Fred, George, come over here."

"You called?" Fred and George stood on either side of Darcie, faces still shining with the excitement of her arrival.

"Is she taller? Didn't you three used to be about the same height?" Charlie eyeballed the difference between the three.

"Hey, yeah!" George touched the top of his own head and in a straight line brought it to Darcie's ear.

"What's the big idea getting taller than us?" Fred demanded jocularly.

"I'm sorry," she shrugged. "But I think I grew during the school year, too. Besides, I was always a little taller than you two."

"A likely story," Charlie laughed.

"It's okay," George told the girl. "By the end of the school year, Fred and I will grow a foot each."

"George, another foot—you have trouble balancing on _two_ feet let alone three," Fred grinned and they all laughed, even George.

"Lunch time," Mr Weasley stuck his head into the room.

"I'm starving," Darcie exclaimed. Charlie wondered if that was true because, while she had clearly grown a few inches, it hardly looked like she had put on any weight at all.

"Come on, then," Fred ordered and led the way.

"What a fascinating clock you have, Mr and Mrs Weasley," Darcie told them politely.

"Thank you, Darcie," Mrs Weasley beamed.

Everyone took a seat at the table and began taking servings of the wonderful food Molly had prepared. Even Darcie was piling chicken, rolls, potatoes, and vegetables onto her plate. There was silence for the next few moments while they seasoned, and buttered, and took their first bites.

"This is amazing!" Darcie exclaimed.

"Overkill on the flattery, Darcie," George muttered.

"They're called manners, George. You might want to try your hand at etiquette some time," Percy told him, frowning slightly.

"Thank you, Percy," Darcie smiled at him and he stared at his food.

"So, Darcie," Ron grinned devilishly, "which of my brothers do you fancy?"

There was minor chaos around the table at that question—Fred elbowed George in the ribs, Percy went a deep shade of red and continued to fixate on his plate, Mr and Mrs Weasley both cried "Ron!", and Ginny giggled. Charlie watched the whole scene in amusement, but he looked at Darcie who was flushed and looked uncomfortable, and he felt really bad for her.

"I'm sorry, Darcie," Mrs Weasley was obviously embarrassed. "Ronald is just a little overexcited." She gave Ron a sharp look as he tried to protest.

"It's all right, Mrs Weasley. Perhaps we should move on. Did you send the boys to a school before Hogwarts?"

"No, Arthur and I have educated the children at home," Molly forced a smile.

"Not that Dad wouldn't've loved to send us to a Muggle school," Fred rolled his eyes.

"Dad's mental about Muggles," George added.

"I must confess, I know very little about Muggles. Auntie Zelda, uhm, didn't want me to, er, mix with them. I don't feel the same way!"

"Now, Darcie," Percy said pompously, "no one thinks you do. But you do have mostly pure-blood friends. Don't worry, only joking."

"Mr Weasley, I only have about five friends: Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, and Lee Jordan. It's not a blood issue at all!" Darcie was explaining very quickly.

"It's perfectly all right, Darcie," Mr Weasley chuckled good-naturedly. "I'm sure if you did, our boys would not be as fond of you as they so clearly are."

"Oh." Darcie visibly relaxed.

"Now, I think we need to discuss where our guest will sleep. If you've all had enough of making the girl scared out of her wits," Molly scowled briefly. "I think Ginny's room will be good. We can bring the extra bed from Charlie's room."

"Mum," he daughter protested, "my room is tiny as it is!"

"It's all right, then I can sleep on the chesterfield," Darcie assured.

"That's not on," Charlie shook his head. "Mum, instead of moving the spare bed all over creation, why doesn't Darcie sleep in my room?"

"Really, Charlie,' his mother shook her head back at him. "_That's_ not on."

"Oh, Mum, it'll be fine," he smiled, silently pleading with her. "We'll behave ourselves. Right, Darcie?"

"Absolutely. It would require a lot less effort. I stay up late like Charlie and I would just be a bother to Ginny. And, of course, we would just be sleeping there."

"Well..." Mrs Weasley hesitated.

"I think it's a splendid idea," Arthur agreed.

"Fine, then. But, dear, don't tell your aunt you shared a room with a seventeen year old boy or she might never let you return," Molly encouraged.

"Mum's the word," Darcie nodded and put a finger to her lips.

"Good. Now, everyone finish up and clear out. It's a beautiful day out and I don't want you to be cooped up in here for it," Molly directed.

They finished the meal in almost complete silence, punctuated by requests for salt, or pepper, or butter. Charlie was excited to have a new roommate and he was looking forward to the long conversations they could have in the dead of night with complete privacy. He really did miss having Bill around to talk to at night and make their bedroom less empty and lonely.

"Come on, Darcie, let's take your trunk up to my room and then we'll give you the grand tour," Charlie offered when the meal was finished.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed.

After Darcie's tour of the house led by most of the family, Fred and George spirited her away for a few hours and no one knew where they had gone until the three of them walked over the crest of a nearby hill joined by Lee. Once they had returned, they joined Charlie and Ron for a game of three-on-three Quidditch. Darcie's broomstick was top of the line and everyone had a turn when she confessed she would rather watch than play and Lee accompanied her. Charlie, Ron, and the twins continued to play because Charlie's beaters from the last year had been Seventh Years and he honestly thought Fred and George would make good replacements. While he would be holding tryouts for every place on the team, he was certain he would keep River and Oliver Wood. In fact, he was going to be grooming the latter to be captain once he went to Romania.

"Boys, time for supper. You, too, of course, Darcie. And Lee's here—nice of someone to have let me know. No, Lee, you'll be staying for supper," Mrs Weasley ushered them into the house.

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley," Lee grinned at her. "Don't tell my mum this, but yours is the best cooking I've ever had."

"That's sweet of you to say," Molly went slightly pink, "but I've had her steak and kidney pie and it is delicious."

"First Darcie, now you. With all this flattery, you'll have her expecting us to say those things soon," Fred remarked, disgusted.

"You lot could learn something from these two," Mrs Weasley called.

Dinner was a noisy ordeal with ten people eating together; they were outside, however, because it was a nice night outside and the kitchen would have been hot and cramped. Afterwards, people scattered—Ginny and Ron went to their rooms, Mr and Mrs Weasley tidied up, the twins and Lee left to play Exploding Snap in the sitting room, and Percy remained outside with Darcie watching the sunset and discussing the Astronomy they would be studying together in the fall Charlie sat back in his seat ad listened to Darcie and Percy's conversation, wondering if his brother knew his position near the top of the class would be threatened by his close friend.

"Hey, Darcie," George stuck his head outside. "It's time for us to walk Lee home. You coming?"

"I'll be right there," she promised. "Thanks for the chat, Percy. See you both later."

Percy seemed to notice for the first time that Charlie was still in the garden. "Charlie, you've been very quiet."

"I didn't want to interrupt. You two seemed to be having a good time. Tell me, Percy, do you fancy her?"

"As a matter of fact, I do not," Percy drew himself up to his full height which was already impressive for a thirteen year old. "I find her stimulating and a good companion, nothing more."

"All right, I won't ask again," Charlie raised his brows. "I was just curious."

"And now your curiosity is sated. Do you fancy her?" Percy asked snidely.

"I do not. Remember, she's twelve and I'm seventeen," Charlie pointed out. "It would be inappropriate. What d'you say we put this stuff away before Mum goes mental?"

Charlie and Percy collapsed all the tables and brought them into the house. When they had finished, they went to the sitting room to see if anyone was there. Eventually, Fred, George, and Darcie returned from walking Lee home. The twins played Gobstones while Darcie read a Potions textbook. Charlie challenged Darcie to a game of Exploding Snap, and Percy bade everyone good night before retiring to his room. Mr and Mrs Weasley allowed the fun in the sitting room to carry on until midnight when they said it was time for bed. The twins led the way up the stairs and said good night before continuing to their own room. Charlie opened the door to his bedroom and the room was lit up showing his neatly made bed and Bill's stripped one.

"Perhaps we should make up the bed for you," he suggested. "As you can see, I'm quite adept at making the bed."

"As if you didn't make it just because I was coming," Darcie rolled her eyes.

"It's Percy's fault! He told Mum you're rich and have a house-elf, and she went ballistic, and made us clean the house from top to bottom. I'm certain I could now find employment as a house-elf."

"No!" Darcie looked horrified. "You didn't have to do that because I was coming."

"That's what we told her," Charlie assured. "Come on, let's get your bed made."

It was immediately apparent that Darcie had no idea what she was doing when it came to making a bed. In due course, Charlie picked her up and placed her on his bed so he could do the job by himself while she watched as though she had never seen it performed. He laughed at her perplexed expression while he worked at it.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"You've never made your bed? Not ever?" He wondered.

"No, never, Lucy always does it—that _is_ her job," Darcie looked at him blankly. "And there are house-elves at Hogwarts."

"You're hysterical," Charlie sat next to her on his bed and wrapped his arm around her. "Tired yet?"

"Not on your life. Do you realize you've only written five times since school ended?"

"Errol's only up to a few flights a week, Darcie. I know for a fact that most of his trips are to you."

"Fine," she pretended to be insulted.

"Who would have thought all those months ago on the train that eleven months later you and I would be sitting here on my bed?" Charlie reflected. "Well, maybe you, but you would know and so you don't count."

"I don't count? You always say the nicest things to me, Charlie," she laughed.

"You know what I mean. Of course you count—you are the most important person in the world," he assured her.

"I'm sure," she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Oh come _on_," he tickled her. "I know you know what I mean. Surrender!"

"Stop! Stop!" Darcie gasped for breath and he relented. "Remember, Ginny's asleep in the next bedroom."

"Good point," he grimaced and scooted to the other side of the bed. "I'll stay here."

Charlie thought it would be wisest for them to get ready for bed before they started in on a conversation in case they nodded off while chatting. For modesty's sake, they decided that he would go brush his teeth and she would change for bed, and when they were finished, they would switch so she could brush her teeth and he could put on his own pyjamas. He was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom and wondering how he and Darcie sharing a room would go—he was quite the snorer—but it seemed rather more economical (as he had said) to just leave the extra bed in his room.

After making certain his teeth were clean, he went back to his room and knocked on the door to let Darcie know he had returned, to give her the chance to tell him she was not ready for him to come into the room. She whisked open the door immediately, though, and stood in front of him with a bright smile, looking like a princess from a story book. Her light brown hair was plaited and flipped over her shoulder and her nightgown was cream-coloured silk and lace. He told her the bathroom was free for her to use.

"Charlie? May I come in?" Darcie whispered as she tapped on the door a few minutes later and he jumped at the noise.

"Yeah, I'm decent in here," he replied.

"Good. I don't think your mother would approve of any indecency," she laughed.

"Indecent? Us? Never," Charlie echoed her laugh. "Come, sit down, my dear."

They sat on their respective beds and faced each other; she crawled under the covers on hers and he sat, crossed-legged, on his bed. For an hour they rehashed what had happened that day, but Charlie noticed that his friend was starting to wilt in front of his eyes and he knew it was probably time to call it a night. She looked reluctant, but she agreed and they both pulled the blankets up under their chins.

Soon enough, Charlie heard Darcie's heavy breathing filled the bedroom, and it was that soothing sound that lulled him into his own slumber. He was awoken about an hour later by heavy sobs ripping through his unconscious. Looking around wildly, his eyes landed on Darcie thrashing about in her bed and crying.

"Darcie?" He bolted out of his bed and to the side of hers. "Darcie, what's wrong?" She gave no response so he shook her. "Darcie."

"No!" Darcie took a final heaving breath and sat up straight, still sobbing. "Charlie? Oh, Charlie, I was so scared."

"I know," he cradled her in his arms, unsure of why she was weeping. "It's all right. Everything is all right. I'm here."

"Charlie, I am so sorry. I'm sorry I woke you," Darcie looked ashamed.

"Don't be sorry," he told her brusquely. "You don't have to be sorry. I just want to make sure you're okay. _Are_ you okay?" His face was white under his freckles.

"I'm perfectly fine now," she nodded, furiously wiping her face dry.

They sat on her bed, he continued to hold her tightly in his arms and she wrapped hers around his waist. He had been so terrified, but he knew she must have been even more scared to be tossing the way she had. There was nothing obvious he could say to her, what he should say to her, to help her, but the silence was killing him.

"You had me really frightened," he winced because he had not wanted to accuse her. "I would like to know what was going on with you."

"Yes, of course," she frowned. "I just have these night terrors. Imagine your worst nightmare and multiply it by ten. There's a reason I don't sleep much."

"You should have told someone. All those months at school and you never mentioned it to me or any of my brothers. You didn't warn us," he sounded like a horrible person badgering the girl.

"I'm sorry," her brows contracted. "It's not an everyday occurrence."

"We don't have to talk about it right now," he patted her hair. "But is this what made you look so sick after Christmas?"

"If I don't sleep, I don't feel like eating," she replied.

"You've been forcing yourself to eat? Have you been having night terrors as well?"

"I've been sleeping, but I have been making sure I eat all right," she nodded.

"You have been looking well. I think it's time to go back to sleep," he suggested.

"Charlie," it was just a whimper.

"Yes?" He smiled gently at her.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She looked thoroughly mortified. "I don't want to be on my own."

"Silly girl," he shook his head and stood. He offered her his hand, "come on."

Charlie knew how inappropriate taking a young girl into his bed was (had he not said those words to Percy earlier that day?), but she looked so downhearted he was loathe to deny her anything that evening. He told himself that this was probably not his mother's idea of behaving themselves, and he thought Aunt Zelda would flay him if she ever found out that the two had shared a bed. All of these rational thoughts went round in his mind until Darcie gave him a grateful smile that melted his heart as she climbed into his bed.

"Thank you, Charlie," she murmured as he threw the covers over their bodies.

"Not a problem," he muttered.

He woke in the morning and, for a minute, was confused by the warm object on which his arm was resting. Remembering the events of the night before, he smiled and looked over at Darcie's slumbering form. It was a mystery how his arm had made its way to its position on her back because they had fallen asleep on either side of the bed, sides barely touching, but he was surprisingly comfortable with the closeness.

"Sorry," Darcie mumbled as she stretched and smacked him in the face.

"It's fine," he whispered.

"Charlie?" Her eyes flew open.

"Were you expecting someone else?" He laughed.

"No, I just forgot you were here," she turned slightly pink.

"Actually, I think _you're_ here as it _my_ bed," he patted her head. "I take it you were able to sleep despite your earlier troubles."

"Yes," she seemed unwilling to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry I was a pain last night."

"I already told you not to apologize," he tweaked her nose. "I am starving. Let's go get some breakfast."

"Yes! I am very ready to get something to eat," she bounded out of the bed. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Tell anyone what?" He tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Thank you, Charlie," she looked happier than he had seen her since she had awakened. "I am hungry."

"You're a little odd, you know that?" He also climbed out of the bed. "I am fond of you, though. Come on, let's get food."

Darcie said she wanted to dress before joining people for breakfast so Charlie waited outside of the room. She left the bedroom shortly thereafter dressed casually and he realized he had forgotten to check the weather outside his window. They headed down to the kitchen together and were handed plates of food by Molly who asked them how they had slept and how they were doing that morning. Percy had an almost full plate of food in front of him so Charlie assumed he had only arrived recently, but Fred and George were polishing off their soft-boiled eggs.

The second day of Darcie's visit was more subdued than the previous one. Charlie felt extremely protective of her and would not leave her side unless it was absolutely necessary. Darcie told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was not to accompany her to the bathroom which made Fred and George roar with laughter.

It was a rainy day so they were confined to the indoors of the house and Darcie suggested they all do the homework they had been assigned for over the summer. This idea was widely panned as being boring (its only supporter being Percy who was quickly shouted down by Fred and George) so they just sat around talking, and eating, and playing games. The most exciting part of the day was watching a close game of chess between Ron and Darcie. No Weasley had ever come so near to beating him at chess, but Darcie went the way of most of Ron's opponents and lost.

"Wow, Ron, you're really good at chess," Darcie exclaimed as she conceded defeat.

"You put up one heck of a fight," Ron pronounced.

"Yeah, Darcie, I've never seen someone take on Ron so well," Fred shook his head in disbelief. "I should have known, though, if anyone could almost beat him it would be you."

"You think too far ahead," Ron warned. "You plan all your moves without fully considering what the other person will do."

"Foresight is always my problem," Darcie sighed and Charlie chuckled.

"I'm bored," Ginny groused from the corner where she had been sitting and reading.

"All right," Fred gave her an affectionate smile, "how about a game of Exploding Snap? We'll stop playing boring chess."

They spent the rest of the day talking and playing games in an attempt to keep Ginny entertained. When Mr Weasley returned home from work, they all crammed into the kitchen for a light supper. Darcie kept them in stitches with stories of her great aunt's house-elf's antics while caring for her. The evening was filled with more story telling and game playing before all the children were shooed off to bed. Charlie and Darcie agreed on the same system as the previous night and, soon enough, they were each on their beds ready to go to sleep.

"So, Darcie, you have now spent an entire day with my whole family. What do you think of us?" Charlie leaned back.

"You're wonderful!" She beamed. "Everyone is so nice and it's fun here. It's relaxed and it doesn't feel like I'm a young girl trapped in the life of an old woman."

"That's how you feel with your aunt?" He wondered. "I never knew."

"Because I never told you," she shrugged. "There are things I keep to my chest."

"Like the night terrors?"

"Like the night terrors."

"What do you do when you're at school? You sleep in a room with other people," Charlie wanted to know.

"They put up enchantments around my bed."

"Do you know which enchantments? Should I put them round your bed?"

"I don't know," she frowned. "They keep other people from hearing my cries."

"Then what are we going to do with you tonight?" He was very concerned.

"I know. I don't want to disturb you," she was looking extremely troubled.

"That's not what I'm worried about. I want you to not have to fear going to sleep. Do you dream the same thing every time?" He thought maybe she was Seeing something while she dreamt.

"A man," she nodded, "but a man the likes of whom I've never seen before. His skin is white and he looks like a snake with horrible red eyes."

"That is strange," his hopes of her knowing anything of the future were dashed because he knew someone who looked like that could never exist.

"He must be a wizard because he tortures people with a wand. And there are dead bodies that walk around," she looked scared. "I see him doing all of these things and I can't do anything to stop it."

"Hush," he sprinted to her bed and enveloped her in his arms. "You don't have to talk about it. It's just a nightmare."

"I know. It's just so vivid. Like I'm actually there," she gulped and he brushed a tear off her face.

"Come on now, don't cry. You're okay. I'm here," he soothed. "You can come sleep with me again if you want."

"Really?" Her tear-filled eyes gazed up at him.

"Of course," he took her hand. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Charlie found he was exhausted all of a sudden and he wanted to be able to get into his bed and sleep for the night. Darcie clamoured in and she rested her head on his shoulder, he could feel her eyelashes flutter against his skin when she blinked. He smiled as her heart and his beating almost in sync. Soon he heard her breathing slow and he knew she was asleep.

~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~

Another chapter down. I wanted to see if I could get her visit done in one chapter, but it's getting long and I thought I would just do the rest of it in another chapter. Then I suppose it's back to Hogwarts for Charlie's final year. Let me know what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a swelteringly hot day and George thought he might melt if the temperature rose in the slightest. He, his siblings, and Darcie were lying outside under a hastily constructed canopy, trying to relax. The sun was unrelenting, but outside in the shade had been deemed preferable to sitting inside the home which had become an oven. Everyone was in his or her swimming costume and lounging on sheets they had laid out to spare them having to come in direct contact with the ground. There was a pitcher of lemonade that Charlie kept refilling with a flick of his wand.

"I am _so_ hot," Ron groaned for what felt like the hundredth time.

"We know," the twins replied in unison.

"If you say it again, I will jab you with my elbow," Ginny threatened. George had been on the receiving end of Ginny's elbow jab and knew it was unpleasant.

"I know it rained just the other day, but some precipitation would not be unappreciated about now," Darcie added.

"Seconded," Percy agreed.

"You lot were all cross when it rained and now you all...oh never mind. It's too hot to be an instigator," Charlie sighed.

"Is there no body of water near here?" Darcie wondered, sounding desperate.

"I could go for a swim," Fred concurred.

"There's the lake," Ginny suggested.

"That's a twenty minute walk," Ron protested.

"Just think, though, twenty minutes of broiling travel followed by hours of invigorating enjoyment," the idea was growing on George.

By a unanimous decision, it was confirmed that they would make the trip to the lake for some refreshment. It was probably the most uncomfortable journey George had ever made, with the sun beating down against their bodies. They had agreed they should dress before leaving rather than walking about in almost nothing.

When they reached the lake, Fred and George gave great yelps of joy, stripped off their unnecessary clothes, and charged into the water. Everybody followed suit and soon they were all in the water splashing about and laughing. It was a huge relief to be in the water where it was cool while the sun above kept their body temperatures in equilibrium.

"Darcie, this was brilliant," Fred exclaimed as he floated on the surface of the lake.

"Why thank you," she beamed at him.

"I cannot believe we were going to spend the day under our makeshift tent," Charlie shook his head.

"Darcie's ingenuity saved us all," Percy declared. "It's unbelievable that we never thought of doing this."

"We can't all be as smart as Darcie," George looked at her proudly.

"Thank you, George. Sometimes you just need an objective perspective," she explained simply.

"Whatever you call it, it's great," Ginny smiled. "But we did hear you're top of every one of your classes."

"Intelligence can be measured in more ways than just exams at school," the older girl warned. "Never base your merit wholly on a test score. When you two go to Hogwarts?"

"Next September for me and the one after for Ginny," Ron informed.

"If you get your letters," George teased.

"Of course they'll get their letters. Don't you go worrying them," Charlie ordered.

"Remember when Ginny threw that tantrum and the pictures flew off the walls in the sitting room?" Percy reminded.

"Oh yeah! And Ron made every room in the house bright as day when he was scared of the dark," Fred added. "I've never heard of a Muggle being able to do that. Or a Squib."

"Thanks for the reminder," Ginny scowled.

"Well, if you six don't mined, I am going to get out and lie on the shore until I'm dry," Darcie walked out of the lake.

"We should probably dry off, too," Charlie decided. "We're going to need to be heading home for tea soon."

"And we still have the walk home," George lamented.

Reluctantly, everybody got onto the bank of the lake to prepare for the trek back to The Burrow. They lay on the towels they had brought and made lazy, inane conversation while shielding their eyes from the sunlight. George soaked in the warmth that had been so cruel and now was welcome. Darcie was on the towel next to him and had flung out her arm so her fingertips brushed his forearm.

"The longer we lie here drying, we're getting hotter. If we started walking while we're still slightly wet, won't we be cooler for more of out walk?" Ginny inquired.

"Yes!" Darcie shouted. "That's brilliant. Shall we go on our way?"

The seven of them rolled up the towels, put on their clothes, and made certain they had collected everything they had brought before going on their way. Their trip back to the house was easier than the one to the lake because they were marginally more comfortable and the sun had moved in the sky. By the time they arrived at The Burrow, the temperature had dipped and they were quite ready to eat anything and everything Mrs Weasley fed them that evening.

Charlie waited patiently in front of his bedroom door while Darcie changed on the other side of it. It was no longer painfully hot, but the air was thick and stuffy, he felt stifled inside the home. She gave him a big smile as she exited the room, allowing him to enter so he, too, could change into his regular clothing.

Once he was out of his bathing suit and into his regular clothes, Charlie briefly surveyed the bedroom. It smelled different and it was odd to see so many girly possessions littered around—Darcie had made her mark on it, had made her mark on him as well. He left his room, smiling. The first voice he heard belonged to on of the twins.

"Ron, you get back here!"

"No," Ron squealed.

"Ron!" Again it was one of the twins. "Give it here. Ron!"

"No! It's addressed to all of us! I want to open it," Ron whined.

"What's going on here?" Charlie demanded as he joined the growing crowd.

"We got a package," George began.

"And I was going to open it," Fred added.

"But Ron took it," George continued.

"He won't give it back!" Fred finished.

"I got it first!" Ron protested.

"Come on, boys," Charlie rolled his eyes at Darcie who looked discomfited. "Fred, George, let him open the package. Ron, stop pouting. Everyone just calm down."

"Nice job, Charlie," Darcie commended.

'It's something you learn with younger siblings. Crisis management. This time just happened to be a hostage situation," they both laughed.

"So, Ron, what is it?" Fred asked.

"Some pictures of flowers from Aunt Muriel," Ron said in disgust.

"_Our_ great aunt," George explained to Darcie. "We're not quite as fond of her as you are of your great aunt."

"You see, it wasn't even worth all the fighting you did," Charlie did not even bother looking at the pictures. "Do you lot know where Mum is? I can't believe she's here and didn't come and kill you while you were screaming at each other."

"Your mum went to get something at the market," Darcie enlightened.

"This is one of the worst gifts I think I've ever received," Fred was looking at the parcel with blatant disgust.

"What are you all shouting about?" Percy asked as he entered the room and put his hands on his hips.

"You took your time, Percy," George declared.

"Well, why _are_ you shouting?" Ginny asked.

"Aunt Muriel sent us a package. The yelling was all for naught," Charlie summed up everything succinctly.

"Could you possibly keep the volume of your antics to a dull roar? Some of us would like to do our summer assignments," Percy preached.

"Shut up, Percy," Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny said in unison.

"Pardon me," he sniffed and walked out of the room.

"Don't get your nose out of joint. They're just teasing," Charlie called after him. "His ego will heal. Since it's cooled down, I bet Mum will want to have tea outside. Why don't we set up the tables and get everything ready."

"Great idea," Darcie agreed.

That night Darcie did not wait for an invitation into Charlie's bed, nor did she ask for one; she simply climbed in next to him. He was surprised by her forwardness, but said nothing as she settled down in the bed. She smiled shyly at him and batted her eyelashes.

"You've got some guts crawling in here without asking permission," Charlie shook his head.

"Do you want me to leave?" She wondered.

"No," he put his arm around her shoulders. "You can sleep here. I'm getting used to you being at my side."

"I can sleep here?" She repeated. "Thank you, thank you!"

"It's nothing," he shrugged. "Hey, you had a really fantastic idea today. I think we would all have burnt to crisps if we'd stayed outside in the sun."

"I know. My goodness it was hot. It's not like it was a selfless suggestion," she shrugged. "I'll bet it was the heat that made Fred, George, and Ron get so angry."

"The twins are always baiting Ron or Percy—it's like a sport for them. Bill was safe because he's the eldest and I'm all right because I'm bigger than they are. Ron and Percy are vulnerable because Ron's the youngest boy and Percy's easy to get riled up," Charlie explained. "Ginny, she's the baby and the only girl. You take it only as far as she can go and drop it."

"You might be underestimating your little sister. She has spark," Darcie told him.

"She's a Weasley, of course she has spark," Charlie replied confidently. "We all have spark. You were just born into the wrong part of the family."

"I was?" Darcie seemed pleased.

"Of course. I mean, I know we're not closely related, but trace it back far enough, our families are connected."

"Not a surprise. There are too few Pure-blood families for us not to have common ancestry."

"So you were born into the wrong part of the family. We've all but adopted you to our part. Trying to rectify the problem."

"It's an honour," she grinned.

They lay, side by side, in Charlie's bed in silence, but his mind was racing as she rested her head on his shoulder. He loved feeling like they were the only people in the world. These were probably very inappropriate thoughts for him to be thinking, but he began imagining what it could be like if life was always that way. If it could be the two of them, alone together.

"Charlie," Darcie murmured.

"Yes?" He was jolted from his daydreaming.

"I feel safe with you," she took his hand.

"Good," he squeezed her hand. "You are safe with me. Always."

"Charlie," she said again.

"Yes," he replied.

"I love you," she whispered. Charlie's heart pounded. "You're the brother I never had."

"I love you, too," he kissed her forehead.

"Fred and George want to be Beaters this year," Darcie had clearly moved on to another subject in her mind. "What are their chances?"

"Pretty good," he nodded. "I wouldn't take one without the other so it's good they're at the same skill level. They had just better out-perform their competition."

"They will," Darcie promised. "With you, River, Oliver Wood, and the twins we'll have a good chance at the Cup, right?"

"Absolutely. Practically a lock," he assured.

"Go Gryffindor!" She cheered. "Will Oliver be Captain after you leave?"

"I would imagine so. I'd planned on grooming him for the position this year. I can't imagine who else they'd pick. I have to find two Beaters and a Chaser, and the two Chasers we have and I are leaving at the end of the year. So Oliver will be the only one with more than one year on the team," Charlie was looking forward to having new blood on the team, but it did make for a lot of work for him on top of his homework.

"We're going to have a great team," Darcie said through a yawn.

"You need to sleep," Charlie announced.

"No! I'm…I'm okay," she protested, still yawning. "Well, I may be a little sleepy."

"Uh huh, a _little_," Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Good night," she kissed his cheek.

"Pleasant dreams," he replied and plunged the room into darkness. Darcie shifted into a more comfortable position next to him and he smiled to himself.

Charlie slept well that night. When he woke the next morning, Darcie was snuggled up against him still asleep. He smiled at her affectionately and closed his eyes to relax before going down for breakfast. It was only a little while later that Darcie's eyes opened and she stretched, yawning. Charlie ruffled her hair before he climbed out of bed.

"Sleepyhead, it's time for breakfast," he decided. "How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you. And yourself?"

"I also slept well. Wonder what Mum's made this morning. Let's go find out before the twins and Ron eat everything," Charlie opened the bedroom door.

"As though you don't eat almost twice what Ron eats," Darcie shook her head and put on her slippers.

"I only eat so much more because I have more muscle to maintain!" He exclaimed, indignant, and flexed his arms as proof. Grabbing her around her waist , he lifted her clear off the ground; she giggled as he carried her downstairs for breakfast.

~:+:~

In Fred's opinion, the remainder of Darcie's visit went by too quickly in blur of fun and activity, and it ended far too soon in everyone's opinion. The morning she was due to depart from The Burrow the twins, Darcie, and Charlie sat at the table only picking at their meals. Percy was rambling on about his upcoming birthday. Fred wanted to hit his brother—what was about to occur was a tragedy and prattling about one's birthday party was insensitive and inappropriate. Suddenly Percy said something that buoyed Fred's heart.

"Darcie, you will come back for my birthday, won't you?" Percy inquired.

"If I'm welcome, l would love to attend," Darcie nodded eagerly.

"Of course you're welcome dear," Molly nodded.

"We won't even have to strip your bed. Just kidding, Mum," George chuckled.

Fred's mood vastly improved after that exchange and he attacked his breakfast with gusto. He noticed Darcie was still rather subdued, but he flashed her a grin and she did smile back at him. An hour or so after the meal had concluded, Lee showed up in the Weasley's fireplace to bid his farewells to Darcie. Fred, George, Lee, and Darcie went up to the twins' room where they were surprisingly quiet.

Charlie wanted to say goodbye to Darcie in private because he knew if he did it in front of his brothers once Darcie went home (and was unable to come to his defence) he would be teased unmercifully. So he set about coming up with a reason to pull her away from the younger boys. That was easier said than done as it seemed unlikely the thirteen year olds would emerge from the bedroom anytime soon. Eventually Lee decided it was time for him to head home. Charlie swooped down on her once Lee was gone from the flames. Fred and George were instructed by their mother to check if Darcie had left anything in their room. Darcie entered Charlie's room to the same and he jumped at his chance.

"You know, Darcie, I'm going to miss you," Charlie began as he watched her looking under the beds.

"I'm going to miss you, too," she replied absently from under the dresser. "Thanks for sharing your room with me. I'm sure Ginny and I would have been miserable squished into her tiny room with two beds."

"Doubtless, "Charlie agreed. "Also, I don't think she would have let you crawl into bed with her if you'd had been stricken with nightmares."

Darcie laughed. "You have a point. I probably would have frightened her half out of her wits if l woke up screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night."

"I don't know, Ginny doesn't startle easily. She's pretty solid most of the time. You did scare me a little that first night. You just learn to live with it?" Charlie thought it would be hard to come to terms with a problem like that.

"My cross to bear, l suppose," she shrugged and pulled a shirt from between her bed and the wall.

"Darcie," Charlie put his arm around her waist and pulled her down next to him. "Darcie, I'm trying to say goodbye to you and you're not paying attention to me. Now you are either avoiding me or you are just being rude. I have never known you to be rude so I need you to tell me why you're not listening to me!"

"I'm not avoiding you," she would not meet his eye.

"You are," he asserted and turned her head so he could look her square in the face.

"I just don't want you to say goodbye," she looked at him defiantly.

"Why not?" He softened his expression at the sight of her sadness.

"Because I don't want to go home," she crossed her arms over her chest. "School doesn't start for a couple of weeks so I have to stay with Auntie Zelda until then. I shouldn't have come so early in the holidays, I'll probably go into a boredom coma before the Hogwarts Express pulls into King's Cross Station."

Charlie snorted with laughter in spite of the serious nature of her speech, Darcie gave a small smile. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. You're coming back, though, in a week or so for Percy's birthday. You won't go into a coma that quickly after living with your aunt for your entire life."

"The problem is, before Hogwarts I had nothing to compare with my life with Auntie. After Hogwarts, I spent every day redoing every question of every assignment from this past year to keep my memories alive. Now that I've been here and have to go home, it doesn't seem fair," she blurted out everything in a rush. "And I sound so ungrateful."

"Come on, Darcie, you're a teenager, you can't be expected to not be bored sometimes when you spend all your time with a woman who's closer to a hundred than ninety!" Charlie smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Put in your time at home for a little while and then you'll be back here for two days which can sustain you the weeks until we go back to school. I promise."

"Okay," she nodded, but she still looked upset.

"Smile for me," he ordered. "Please, Darcie."

"You were in the process of saying goodbye to me," she grinned and stretched her arms. "I need to go soon, get on with it."

"As you wish," he smiled back at her. "I'm going to miss you. Although, it'll be nice to have the sheets to myself. None of my previous roommates have left me shivering without covers! I'm going to write to you every other day to stop you from slipping into a coma."

"Thank you," she beamed at him.

"Darcie, Charlie, it's time!" Mrs. Weasley called up to them.

Everyone gave Darcie multiple hugs before she climbed into the fire with her trunk, waved goodbye, and disappeared. The rest of the day was a sombre affair with everyone missing their little guest. The very next day, Mrs. Weasley wrote a letter to Zelda Burke inviting both her and Darcie to celebrate Percy's birthday with the family, but she received a short letter of refusal. Charlie was sent a long letter that clearly conveyed how upset she was that she would not be coming for a second visit. Percy sulked for two days, and he, Charlie, and the twins resigned themselves to the fact they would not be seeing Darcie until September when they returned to Hogwarts.

~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~

So this one is really late in coming. Firstly, my old computer crashed. And (as we're probably mostly from the same approximate demographic) I'm sure you all understand what a sad occasion that is. Secondly, the day I got my new computer my apartment building lost internet—we never have good internet, but it completely pooped out. Anyway, I'm back. Enjoy.


	10. Chapter 10

Charlie was ready to go back to Hogwarts; he was ready to finish his studies; he was ready to finally win the Quidditch Cup! It had been nice being back at home for a couple of months, but it was certainly time to return to school. By the time September arrived, he knew his mother was looking forward to sending Charlie and a few of his siblings away. The Burrow had seemed to shrink, and it felt like there was too little house and too many people.

At King's Cross, everyone said their goodbyes to Mrs. Weasley—Ron, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley had stayed home because of the early start. They saw Lee and his family so Molly and the twins hurried over to say hello. Charlie found a compartment occupied by River, Arielle, and some other Seventh Years, he left his trunk with them, and went to meet with the Head Boy and Girl as well as the other twenty three prefects. He found himself scanning all the compartments he passed for Darcie, but his search was unsuccessful.

After the briefing, Charlie went back to see River and Arielle because, despite the history between them, they were still his friends. An hour or so into the journey, summer stories had bee exhausted (Charlie decided to omit the tales about Darcie) and they fell quiet. The peace was interrupted by a Sixth Year Ravenclaw prefect wearing a frown.

"Weasley, there's a disturbance a few compartments down. I think you're the one to handle it," he informed.

"My brothers?" He knew that was the most logical conclusion and the other boy nodded. "I'm on it."

"Good, I'm going back to my compartment—I almost won a huge pot of Bertie Bott's Beans," he intimated.

"Exploding Snap Poker? Don't worry, I won't tell," Charlie grinned and went to find Fred and George.

That was not a difficult task. After walking about a yard, Charlie heard a lot of noise. A voice that clearly belonged to one of his twin brothers rose above the din, he was telling jokes and they had amassed quite an audience. Luckily, Charlie's size and reputation were on his side and he pushed through the younger students to the inside of the compartment where a comical sight met his eyes: Fred and George were shouting jokes and doing slight of hand tricks while Lee was in stitches of laughter and Darcie sat watching with an odd, unreadable expression on her face.

"Charlie, our favourite prefect brother!" Fred crowed.

"Your _only_ prefect brother," Charlie smirked.

"What brings you to our little piece of paradise?" George wondered.

"Your decibel," Charlie began. "You lot need to clear out because this place is too full, and you two need to take it down half a dozen notches. Move it along."

If he had been any other prefect, Charlie knew there would have been a fair amount of grumbling, but, again, both his stature and his status worked to his advantage. The twins appeared unperturbed by what was happening, Lee looked somewhat embarrassed, and Darcie was still indecipherable. Charlie sat down in the seat next to lee and stretched.

"You might consider keeping a lower profile. Or at least being better behaved. McGonagall likes the Quidditch team to be role models for the rest of the House," Charlie informed.

"Being well-behaved is overrated," George scoffed.

"So, by association, being on the Quidditch team is also overrated?" Darcie posed the question Charlie had been tempted to ask. "You needn't answer that—I was just curious."

Fred and George were momentarily stunned into silence by the question they considered unfair. Charlie was secretly glad he had been saved from having to ask the query that would probably have reflected badly on Gryffindor's Quidditch captain. Darcie had turned to watch the countryside pass.

"All right, Darcie?" Charlie smiled at her. "I see you aren't comatose today."

"No—I was resuscitated in time to catch the train today," she quipped. "How are you, Charlie?"

"Tired. We had an early morning. At least some of us did," Charlie shot an exasperated look at his younger brothers who feigned innocence.

"Our alarm clock didn't go off!" Fred repeated what they had claimed earlier that day.

"You still shouldn't have left your packing until this morning," Charlie pointed out and Lee and Darcie laughed.

"Come off it, we all know Mum loves showing off her abilities with a packing spell," George also laughed. "Where have you been hiding up 'til now, Charlie?"

"I was sitting in a compartment with River and Arielle. Don't look at me like that! We can be friends in spite of everything… can't we?" What had seemed like a foregone conclusion half an hour ago seemed like a betrayal of trust for these kids. The boys looked outraged, but Darcie's face was blank.

"What about what she did to Darcie last year?" Fred demanded. "And he started dating your ex-girlfriend a little while after you dumped her."

"Darcie, what do you think?" George rounded on her.

"l think Charlie should be allowed to pick his own friends," she shook her head. "lf you're in her good books, Arielle can be sweet."

"Thank you, Darcie," he nodded at her.

It was probably best for him to go back to the compartment where his peers remained; the temperature in the current area was decidedly chilly. River greeted him with a big smile and began chatting about how much training he had been able to do over the summer. Charlie took to the topic with gusto and they discussed strategies for their team to try out in their matches. Oliver Wood knocked on the compartment door and Charlie and River resigned themselves to an hour and a quarter of listening to _his_ intricate plans for the team. Charlie told (warned) River that Oliver would be the only contender for Gryffindor's Quidditch captaincy and River talked (lied) about how he was looking forward to seeing his great schemes put into action.

When they reached Hogsmeade Station, Arielle and River abandoned Charlie and his trunk so he decided to flag down the first person he knew to help him. That turned out to be Darcie who smiled at him and gave him a quizzical look which Charlie returned.

"Where's your trunk?" Charlie asked.

"Oliver is carrying it," she turned slightly pink. "He was walking by and saw me struggling so he offered to carry it for me. What are you doing?"

"River and Arielle took off and I need to see to my prefect duties, but I can't figure out what I'm going to do with my luggage," Charlie sighed.

"Let me take it. You know it'll be safe with me," she offered. "I didn't need Oliver's help—I was just trying to get a better grip on it. I told him and the boys that I would get us a carriage. We'll wait for you."

"Thanks, Darcie," he grinned and she picked up his trunk. "See you soon."

Charlie had offered to corral the First Years to Hagrid because he was deemed the notable to do it with the least amount of hassle—once again his build was cited. It also happened to be the simplest duty because the First Years were always too awed and nervous to make much of a fuss. His task completed, Charlie went to find Darcie, his trunk, and the awaiting carriage he had been promised. When he got to the horseless rig it looked like they had been waiting for quite sometime and, though he had finally arrived , no one looked particularly happy to see him. Lee looked like he was almost asleep, Fred and George were tossing leaves from the floor of the carriage onto the ground, Oliver was trying to engage Darcie in conversation, but her teeth were chattering. They rode to Hogwarts in silence punctuated by the sound of Darcie's chattering teeth.

The six students split up when they reached the Great Hall. Charlie went to sit with other Gryffindor Seventh Years and he lost track of the younger ones; no doubt all the boys followed Darcie to wherever she had decided to sit. It seemed like the First Years and Hagrid took longer than usual to reach the castle. Dumbledore welcomed the new students and the Sorting began. Charlie would swear that every year the First Years were smaller. Not just shorter, but tiny all over. When all the new children were placed into Houses, the food finally appeared.

"We are all fed and warm," Dumbledore stood up when everyone was finished. "The warmest of welcomes to all our newcomers. The new face at our table here belongs to Professor Crichton," he paused for scattered, half-hearted applause. "She will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts for the coming year. Timetables will be delivered to you at breakfast tomorrow morning. Mr. Filch has, once again, requested I remind the returning students and instruct the new students that he has a complete list of banned items, numbering approximately three hundred and fifty seven, available for review. Also, entering the Forbidden Forest is, indeed, forbidden. There will be more announcements in the coming days, but we have full stomachs and tired minds. And, so, to bed."

"Another Defence Against the Dark Arts professor," Darcie remarked to Charlie when they were alone in the common room that night around midnight. "What happened to Professor Nailor?"

"Hogwarts changes Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers like Snape changes his robes," Charlie explained. "I've never seen one stay longer than a year."

"Looking forward to getting your timetable tomorrow? How many classes will you be taking?" She inquired.

"Care of Magical Creatures, of course, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration, and Charms," he counted. "That's five."

"Sounds like you're going to have some spare time on your hands."

"I'll be preparing for my NEWTs, thank you very much," he reminded. "Besides, you could have time off, too, if you weren't taking so many classes. You shouldn't be taking as many as you are. I remember a week or so when you were pretty frazzled."

"One week of the entire school year? That's hardly grounds to not go forward with my plans. If I'm going to take some of my OWLs next year, I need to be preparing as much as I can."

"You're taking OWLs next year? You'll only be in Fourth Year and you've gone ahead—no one wants to tackle those before they absolutely must," he warned.

"This way, though, I'm able to take more classes. I took two years of each course last year so I'm in Third Year; I'm taking two years of five classes this year and one year of four other courses; next year I'll take only one year of all courses which means I'll be prepared to take five OWLs; the following year I'll take one year of each course and do the rest of my OWLs; in Sixth Year I'll take some of my NEWTs; in Seventh Year I'll finish them."

"You haven't scheduled yourself much time for being a teenager. Five OWLs one year, four the next, then five NEWTs, and four the next. You'll have run yourself ragged by the time you leave Hogwarts," he prophesied. "But I suppose you've got everything planned so you can go straight into your dream occupation. What is it you want to be when you grow up, Darcie? A Healer?"

"I have no idea. Perhaps if I immerse myself in every area of studying, I can figure out where my passion lies," she shrugged.

"I think you're mad," he proclaimed. "Smart, but a little mad."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," she decided.

~:+:~

The first week of being back to school was the busiest week of Fred's life. None of the teachers appeared to want to ease back into things slowly. Professor Crichton especially seemed eager to prove she could keep up with the others and piled assignments on her students like it was going out of style . On top of the schoolwork, he was slightly anxious about Quidditch tryouts. Not that he would ever want to admit that aloud to anyone.

He, George, and Lee found classes a little odd without Darcie there to keep them focused and on point. She still sat with them at meals and did homework while they tried to do theirs, but it seemed like maybe too much had changed between them. She had, however, bequeathed her notes from the previous year them (after making them swear they would use them only for study purposes and never ever copy them. All three agreed because they feared the wrath they never saw but assumed lurked beneath her placid exterior.

"Ready for tryouts today, boys?" Darcie asked as they joined her at breakfast Saturday morning.

"Of course," Fred was grateful his voice did not betray just how nervous he was. He knew he and George would have to perform brilliantly in order to win spots on the team without it looking like Charlie was playing favourites by picking his brothers.

"You'll be coming to watch, right, Darcie?" George confirmed.

"I wouldn't miss it for all the gold in Gringott's," she promised. "Lee and l are going to take the best seats and watch the whole thing. I'll cheering you on the entire time."

"Not me," Lee shook his head. "I'm going to be laughing every time one of you gets hit in the face with a Bludger!"

"Thanks for that, mate," Fred thumped him on the back a little harder than he normally would have.

"He's just teasing," Darcie assured them.

"We're starting tryouts in fifteen, gentlemen," Charlie reminded his brothers as he left to prepare.

George stopped eating at that point and Fred only finished his breakfast because he knew he would need his energy to perform his best. Darcie rose from her seat and offered one hand to Fred and the other to George. The four of them headed out to the Quidditch pitch for the event that would determine a large part of the twins' remaining years at Hogwarts. Fred was feeling many things, but excitement was the prevailing emotion.

There were about a dozen students there to watch tryouts and another dozen or so who were actually there to be considered for the team. Charlie, River, Oliver, and the other remaining Chaser were all standing on the pitch in a line. Fred and George grabbed a school broom each and their friends went to secure positions in the stands.

"Hello," Charlie had clearly used a spell to make his voice louder. "If everyone here to show off their skills would separate into groups. Chasers to the left and Beaters to the right. Obviously the positions we have available are two Beaters and one Chaser. The people I assign will be those players who perform best overall and those who show the most commitment."

The Chasers went first—all but four of the people vying for the spots, including Fred and George, were there to be Chasers. Two were Second Years (Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet) and most of the others were Fifth Years. Everyone was surprised by the skill with which Angelina flew so no one was particularly taken aback when she was chosen for the third Chaser position.

"Okay, now we move on to the Beaters," Charlie decided. "I'll see you in pairs. Fred you'll be with Michaels. Please don't argue, George."

Fred was not impressed with Michaels' performance to put it mildly. The girl was probably trying out for the team just for the hell of it and her build was certainly not the typical physique for a Beater and one should not play against the Bludgers if one is afraid of balls. In Fred's opinion she would have made a better Seeker. The boy partnering George was doing better, but he dropped his club once and nearly knocked out Angelina who was flying below. Darcie was the ideal fan because she cheered and gasped in all the appropriate places and Lee seemed to get caught up in her excitement.

"That's enough!" Charlie hollered eventually. "Let's wrap it up. Fred, George, you're in and the first practice is next Tuesday after dinner. Everyone try to be on time."

"You two were fantastic!" Darcie grabbed the twins in a big hug. "No one could accuse Charlie of unfair judgement."

"No way!" Lee echoed' shaking hands with both of them. "Can you believe how well Angelina and Alicia flew? I had no idea."

"You guys should have heard the running commentary Lee was keeping," Darcie enthused. "You should talk to McGonagall about commentating every match."

"Yeah," George broke in, "that boring Ravenclaw who did it last year is gone."

"I suppose," Lee replied thoughtfully.

"I'll just have to watch Gryffindor games all alone," Darcie sighed dramatically.

"But you'll have the two of us for every other match," Fred put his arm around her shoulders. "And we'll get to share this wit of Lee's with the whole school."

"Hey, you two find a place the four of us can hang out. Fred and I are going to get some things for…celebrating," George winked at his brother and they headed for the kitchen for butter beer and cakes.

~:+:~

"Is it possible there is nepotism in the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" Charlie was brought out of his studying by Darcie's teasing voice.

It was almost one in the morning and they were, of course, the only ones in the common room. This evening was not the first they had together, but it was one of the first where the silence was not only interrupted by one or the other asking clarifying questions. She had moved over to the seat beside him.

"It's only nepotism if I put them on the team because they're my brothers. I put them on the team because they were the superior players—they just happen to be my brothers," Charlie grinned at her. "Are you questioning why your closest friends got what they wanted?"

"I just needed an ice breaker," she shrugged. "You made the right decision. Those other two were terrible! Poor Angelina could have received a concussion; or worse."

"She was a shocker, actually. River didn't make the team until Third Year and he was not as good as Angelina. I asked Alicia to be our reserve Chaser. Your Year has been hiding some gems. Maybe we should let First Years try out," Charlie joked.

"Ah, but perhaps the first year is a maturation chamber," she laughed.

"Wouldn't want to pick them before they're ripe," he rolled his eyes and shut his Transfiguration book. "So how are your dozen classes going?"

"Dozen plus two, and they're going fine. I don't think I'll ever take this many again. I have to say, though, Percy seems less fond of me now that I'm competing for the top spot in his classes."

"He'll get over it. I wouldn't let it bother you. You never told me how the rest of your holiday went. You seem like you got through it okay."

"It was fine. Quiet, but maybe that's a good thing. Time to decompress before being flung back into life with your brothers."

"You didn't write much," he observed. "I missed talking to you."

"I didn't have a whole lot to write," she confessed.

Charlie watched Darcie return to her History of Magic assignment and he got a little lost in his thoughts. He really had missed her once she left The Burrow, but he knew that was not something he should admit to anyone. At the moment, she was buried in her textbook and her glasses were slipping down her nose. She looked very pretty that evening with her hair tied back and a smile of comprehension playing on her lips. That was the last thought Charlie permitted himself to think.

"What are you looking at?" She stopped writing and looked at him.

"Sorry, l was just thinking," he shook his head to clear it.

"I cannot believe how much homework a professor who didn't even know he was dead and hardly realizes he has students can assign!" Darcie lamented.

"Two years and you can flunk your History of Magic OWL and drop it," he reminded her.

"Actually, I'm going to take the History of Magic OWL next year," she informed.

"You're joking! I didn't think about my OWLs until Bill was about to sit his. And that was only to be grateful mine weren't for years. You are in your second year of schooling—as a Third Year and you're talking about sitting some OWLs next year. You're mad! "Charlie was floored by what he was hearing.

"lf you insist on telling me I'm mental every time we discuss schoolwork, we're not talking about it anymore," she frowned.

"I'm sorry. Mea Culpa," he raised his hands in surrender. "For the record, l think even wanting to do what you're planning is very admirable. I offer you my services if there's anything I can do to be of assistance. You know where to find me. You also know there is nothing l would deny you."

"Thanks, Charlie," she smiled.

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Another chapter gone. I wasn't sure that I should put more into this one. I'd love to know what you think. ;)


	11. Chapter 11

Charlie was standing in Greenhouse Two reading his Transfiguration text when Darcie slipped into the room with some cuttings of red and white roses she appeared to want him to plant for her. She handed them to him in silence and gazed around the greenhouse. The area where he planned to put the roses was full of tulips and the buds of a strange flower and he began to pluck them from the soil, handing them to the girl. Smiling a cheeky grin, she fled the building and they emerged onto the grounds bathed in sunlight; Charlie approached her, neither spoke a word, and leaned in to give her a kiss which she returned softly before everything went white.

He woke with a start in his own four-poster bed surrounded by his peers who were still asleep in their own beds. His mind was racing from what he had just dreamt. It was not the first dream Charlie had had of Darcie, but it was definitely the most disconcerting. Of course he loved her but he was not _in love_ with her. Firstly, she was practically a child—she had only just turned thirteen—and he was seventeen. Secondly, she was his friend, his study companion. He opted to turn over and try to sleep for a little while longer before going to the Great Hall for breakfast. When he woke again River was pulling on his robes to go downstairs and he offered to wait while Charlie dressed.

The first months of school were packed with commitments demanding Charlie's attentions; practices were both more fun and more stressful with Fred and George on the team. They kept the other players' spirits bright even when they were flying in the rain because Oliver Wood wanted to train in any kind of weather, but they could be a little difficult to control and Charlie learned that he could yell at them if needed and they would forgive him before the hour was done. Their being Beaters and required to attend practices also drew Darcie which was never a bad thing in Charlie's opinion. Until he noticed that her attention was no longer concentrated on him.

Oliver was taking more and more of her time and focus on and off the pitch. It had been obvious since the previous year that Wood fancied Darcie, but it had only recently begun to seriously irritate Charlie. He knew at least one of his younger brothers was at least as frustrated with this turn of events as he was because now that Darcie was taking part in some of the Fourth Year classes, Oliver had pretext to talk to her, ask her questions. Fred, George, and Lee seemed to be irked by the fact someone else was tapping her resources, but George was by far the most upset. In all honesty, Charlie felt his fondness for George grow at this point. Percy, too, was affected by Darcie's new friendship with Oliver and Charlie assumed the reason behind it was someone else in his year being close to her.

"Charlie, you look a million miles away," Darcie broke the silence of one in the morning in the Gryffindor common room.

"I am," he confessed. "My body is in Hogwarts, but my mind is in Romania. And in November at our first Quidditch match. And, believe it or not, my bed where I wish I could sleep and have a good reason to ignore the rest of my Transfiguration assignment. Unless you could give me a good reason to not finish it?"

"You want me to take a look into the future for you and tell you whether or not McGonagall will collect your homework, is that it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You're reading minds now," he laughed.

"Charlie, if I could I would, but I can't so I won't," she replied. "Professor Trelawney says Sight cannot be flicked on and off like a Muggle light bulb. I don't even have mine properly attuned."

"So it's like a radio aerial? You need to be on the right frequency to get good reception?" They both laughed at that concept. "Any idea of how we're going to do in our first match, then?"

"When was the last time I told you my policy on telling you if I know anything about Quidditch matches? I'm sure you'll do fine," she assured.

"Well, then, are you still having nightmares?" He inquired, a serious note creeping into his voice. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nightmares, yes. Talk about, no. You know, we could always do a reading about the match," she suggested lightly. "I've been working with the deck of Tarot cards you gave me for Christmas."

"Really?" He was eager to see her in action, and it was a good reason to put off his essay for another day. "That would be fascinating to see. If you take a break it won't put you too far behind in your studies, will it?"

"Charlie, we've been back for three weeks and I'm done up to Halloween in most of my courses so I don't think my performance will suffer," she shook her head.

"I should have known. Do you have to go up to your dormitory to get the cards?"

"No, keeping them close to your person is said to increase your bond with them and get more accurate responses."

She pulled the deck out of her school bag and Charlie was pleased to see they looked well-used. He received it and was instructed to shuffle while deliberating on the question he wanted answered (How will the match against Slytherin go?). It was decided they would do a three card spread which made little difference to Charlie, but he wanted to do everything right to make Darcie happy so he nodded while she explained everything to him.

"In a three card spread we use the cards to describe the Past, Present, and Future. The first card is the Past and we have the Five of Cups in the upright position. It's not a happy looking card and it means despair (probably in regards to losing the Quidditch Cup), you've suffered a loss. The second card is the Present and we have The Star also in the upright position which symbolizes hope, happiness, and tells us to rely on intuition. Finally, our Future card is the Nine of Cups, but it's reversed. It's not an extremely happy card even when it's reversed, but it does signify a new day as long as we embrace past disappointments rather than repressing them."

"You read all of that from those three cards?" He had to admit he was intrigued but a little sceptical of what he had just heard. "They say a picture's worth a thousand words. Does Trelawney know what you've been doing with these?"

"Sort of. I don't want to talk to her," she shrugged and began to put the cards back in order.

"Why not?" He gently tilted her face towards him to force her to make eye contact with him. "Is it because she's a phony? I know it's hard to take her seriously, but Dumbledore seems to think she's an acceptable teacher of Divination."

"I'm doing a self-study of the subject really," she explained. "The classes are just practical tutorials."

"You, my dear, are an education snob," he declared and put his arm around her shoulders. "If something—a class, a teacher—doesn't measure up to your expectations, you teach yourself."

"Guilty as charged. But at least I learn it," she reasoned.

"True."

"It's time for me to retire," she yawned and stood, making for her dormitory. "By the way, Charlie, I would do that homework, and well, if I were you."

"Good night, Darcie," he rolled his eyes at her retreating back.

~:+:~

George flew terribly in Gryffindor's last practice before their first Quidditch match of the year, but Charlie was in no position to criticize because he knew his flying was hardly better, and he knew why. Darcie was sitting next to Lee and they were both watching the training shivering slightly but looking happy; the problem was the captivated expression on Darcie's face as her eyes followed Oliver Wood around the pitch. Wood was noticing this attention and seemed to be motivated, River was being distracted by Arielle flirting with him from the stands, and Fred seemed frustrated with almost everyone else on the team except Angelina Johnson.

When the practice had finished, Darcie shot down to the field and, after giving Charlie a quick hug, straight to Wood's side, smiling up at him. He was aware of her admiration, but (as Charlie snidely pointed out to George) was too obsessed to put together a statement to impress her with anything but his knowledge of Quidditch. This turned out to be a great underestimation of Wood's abilities because she walked off with him _and_ without Charlie, the twins, or Lee.

The common room was full of people and Charlie was unable to spot Wood and Darcie until well past eleven. She looked as if she could be no happier anywhere but there on the same couch as Oliver Wood, he looked as if he had never had a girl show him that much attention. After trying to come up with a good reason to separate the two of them, Charlie gave Wood a stern look and told him that he had best get to bed so he could attend all his classes the next day in a good mood because if he got a detention, Charlie would have to put Percy in as temporary Keeper.

"You and Oliver Wood are going out now?" Charlie asked, sidling over to his young friend.

"I don't see how that's any of _your_ business," she replied somewhat coldly.

"Did I do something to upset you?" He wondered.

"I waited through the entire practice to talk to you and when it's over, you only want to talk to George," she explained.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, stung. "You were the one who hung off of Oliver Wood's arm all night looking adoringly up at him."

"I thought I'd be friendly to someone whose last name wasn't Weasley," she retorted.

"You were being more than friendly towards him," he shot.

"He treats me like a girl someone can fancy. Not just one who can run around with and be seen as one of the boys."

"You _are_ a girl someone can fancy—I know that. If you want me to treat you more like that, I would," he was caught off guard.

"Would you? I saw how you treated Arielle when you were dating _her_; would you treat me like that?" She posed a cryptic question.

"You and I aren't dating," that statement was not quite what he had intended.

"You sound relieved. Charlie," she began her sentence harshly. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," he flopped down onto the nearest piece of furniture.

Why was he being so possessive of her? She wasn't _his_ property—she definitely wasn't his girlfriend and at the moment he was unsure if she was even his girl friend. How could seeing her with another…_a_ guy make him feel so jealous? He loved Darcie, she was like a sister to him, but ever since the summer something had been different. Their relationship was really messing with his head.

The next morning sent Charlie's mind into a tailspin. Breakfast was normal, Darcie ate with Lee and Fred and George, probably talking eagerly about the approaching match. When she looked down the table and met his eye, she smiled and waved at him, throwing him a little off guard. Wood, who was sitting right next to him, smiled too and she winked.

By the time Saturday, and the Quidditch match, rolled around, Charlie was confused to no end. Darcie's mood towards him were alternately warm or cold—he learned he wanted to know nothing about her feelings for Wood, so he ignored the situation. The twins seemed to keep her occupied, though, with their excitement about their first ever Hogwarts Quidditch match.

"Good luck, Charlie," Darcie passed him in the common room and smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks, Darcie," he grinned up at her. "I'll see you at the after-party, right?"

"Of course," she tossed her hair and joined Fred, Lee, who was holding her coat and hat, and George.

"Of course," she tossed her hair and joined Fred, Lee, who was holding her coat and hat, and George.

"What's going on with little Darcie, Charlie?" Oliver asked him while they were putting on their robes.

"Nothing. So you like her?'

"Well, come one. You've looked at her. There's something out of this world about her. And if she wants to give me some of her undivided attention, who am I to refuse?" Wood grinned at him. "I'm not…intruding on something or stepping on toes, am I?"

"No."

Charlie hated to admit it, but Darcie was getting in the way of him being able to live his life like a sane person. In fact, Quidditch was the only activity in recent weeks that had taken her out of his mind and now his Keeper was dating her. Rather than that closing the matter of his jealousy, it made him furious. Knowing that he had to clobber Slytherin in this match, though, he forced himself to ignore everything going on inside him and focus on the game—which they ended up winning by a margin of ten points.

"You were fabulous," Charlie could immediately discern Darcie's voice from the spectators who had flooded the pitch. His body expected her to fling herself into his arms, but when the familiar weight was not applied, he scanned the crowd, and saw her kissing Oliver Wood passionately.

"Should we poison his pumpkin juice tonight?" George's voice was low and angry in Charlie's ear and he despised the fact that it made him feel better.

The after-party was the strangest affair Charlie had ever attended (and he had grown up with Fred and George) because instead of hanging off Oliver Wood's overly muscular arm, Darcie seemed to gravitate towards him. In light of the impending discomfort of the after-party, Charlie had found himself a place by a window where he could smile jovially at people without actually having to join in the festivities, but Darcie actively sought him out, pulling away from the throng of people around the food and approaching him with a shy smile. He grinned back at her, his heart no longer feeling like a lead weight, and allowed her to sit by his arm on the chair.

"You were incredible," she spoke softly and he leaned in closer. "All the girls in my classes are so envious I'm friends with you because you're such a hot-shot athlete and I'm some geeky little Third Year who takes Fourth Year classes. I tell them they should be jealous, but not because of how cool and popular you are but because of how great a friend you are."

Charlie's world crashed around his ears—she came to him because he was a great friend—he knew what close friends talked about. When he had started dating Arielle, all he could talk about to his closest friend was her, how it was to be with her, and almost nothing else. Darcie was here to chat about Wood. "I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to talk about Wood right now—except that great save he made."

"Oliver?" Darcie looked extremely confused. "Why would I talk to you about Oliver? I came over here to talk about you. If I want to talk about Oliver, I have girlfriends who will squeal about me dating the Keeper for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. You're over here all alone after a victory wrenched from the jaws of defeat and (as I hope I'm a good friend to you) I came looking for you. Wondering what's the matter and if I can do anything."

"That's really sweet of you," Charlie's face turned red with embarrassment at having misread her intentions. "I'm fine."

She laid her hand on his still burning cheek and her brows knit with concern, "Charlie, I think you might have a fever."

"No, I'm just warm," he assured. "It's our closeness to the fire. I'm probably just overheated."

"If you're sure," she looked at him shrewdly. "So, I hate to be a gushing fan, but you were actually amazing today. The flying you did was incredible! Did you see me wave to you? I wasn't surprised you didn't wave back because you were really busy, you know, trying to win the match; but did you at least _see_ it?"

He had seen it, but he had noted his proximity to Oliver Wood and passed it off as an attempt by her to be noticed by her new beau. "I saw, it was really nice of you. I have to admit, I'm surprised at the attention you're giving me when it was your boyfriend who made some spectacular saves on the pitch today."

"And doesn't he know it," she said shaking her head. "The thing is, I can only spend time with one of my favourite Quidditch stars at a time. He has someone else stroking his ego right now."

"You're here to stroke my ego?" He was surprised. "According to other people, it doesn't need it. Fred and George, however, do spend most of their time with me trying to bring it down to nothing."

"No, I didn't come to stroke your ego. I thought I would come over and talk about whatever _you_ want to discuss. If it's the match, if it's your schoolwork, anything," she insisted.

"You're sweet," he knew he'd already said something to that effect, but he meant it. "I don't really need to talk about anything, you could sit with me."

Charlie grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into his lap, wrapping her in his arms tightly. She giggled and tried to wrestle herself free from his grip, but he refused to give in to her squirming protests. It was probably very lucky for him that Oliver Wood was in the very middle of the mass of people or Charlie would probably have had to pay dearly for his next move: he kissed Darcie. He had not meant to plant it on her lips, but she writhed in his arms and instead of kissing her cheek like he intended, he molested her.

"Charlie," she hissed.

"I'm sorry!" He yelped, "I swear, it was an accident!"

"An accident," she repeated in a tone that he did not understand. "Maybe I should head to bed. I'll just say goodnight to Oliver. Sleep well."

"Sweet dreams," he choked out, embarrassed. He watched her weave through the crowd and throw herself into Wood's arms, kissing him deeply. Wood was left with a somewhat dazed look on his face.

"I hate him," George muttered as he, Fred, and Lee joined Charlie, who was still a little stunned. "He's so full of himself."

"Charlie!" Fred exclaimed.

"You kill my Keeper, at least give me notice so I can replace him before the next match, will you?" Charlie joked and George high-fived him. "We do need him for the match on Saturday."

"She's our friend and we are supposed to be happy when good things happen to her," Fred shook his head.

"I'm happy for her!" Lee piped up.

"So am I," Fred folded his arms and looked shrewdly at his brothers. "George, I know you're jealous—"

"I'm not!" George exclaimed.

"Fine," his twin rolled his eyes. "But, Charlie, what's wrong with you?"

"She's like a sister to me!"

"You _have_ a sister," Lee remarked and winced at how stupid a comment it was. "What happens when Ginny starts dating?" He noticed Charlie's face reddening with suppressed emotion at each word. "I'm going to bed because I'm obviously making things worse."

"I'm coming, too. I should...what did you say to Oliver the other day? I should get to bed so I can attend all my classes tomorrow in a good mood because if I get a detention, you would have to put Percy in as temporary Beater."

"It's Sunday tomorrow," George reminded, but followed his twin brother and Lee up to their dormitory.

"You fancy her," Lee pointed out.

"Something rotten," George nodded. "But I know she doesn't feel the same way and I've been trying to work it out. Trying to get over my feelings for her."

"OK," Fred sighed. "You know she's with Oliver right now."

"I've noticed," George snapped. "But, I think I need help."

"Let's get to bed—someone's going to end up hearing us," Lee advised.

If that first night of Darcie dating Oliver Wood was any indication of how their relationship was going to affect Charlie's life, it was not going to go well. They did still have their evenings, but he just couldn't be the same around her knowing that she was someone else's girlfriend. Darcie seemed to not have noticed a change in the friendship, or if she had she had said nothing to him.

"Charlie," Darcie began one evening in the common room, "did you and Arielle ever do anything other than just kiss?"

Whatever Charlie had expected to hear, it was not that, and he was so surprised he knocked over his ink. His mind flashed back to two summers ago when he and Arielle had made love for the first and only time, feeling himself flush scarlet. As much as he trusted Darcie and as mature as he thought she was, it was a private matter and she was only thirteen. "Well, it's kind of personal..."

"Oh, you thought I meant—" she broke off giggling, pink, and shook her head. "No, Oliver never seems to want to do anything but snog. He doesn't want to talk about life or his opinions. I suppose he chats about Quidditch whenever we aren't kissing, but nothing else. Ever."

Charlie laughed with relief at the knowledge she had no desire to know about his sex-life. "You know, Arielle and I didn't talk to much either. I think that's why I broke up with her. We weren't connecting on an intellectual level. She was also a horrible person."

"A little bit," his friend giggled again.

Darcie returned to whatever she was working on and Charlie followed suit after opening a new ink bottle. He reflected on his relationship with Arielle—how it had mainly been physical near the end, but he knew they had never had deep philosophical discussions. Several months in the relationship and he had probably only scratched the surface of who Arielle really was.

"You and I connect on an intellectual level," Darcie said out of the blue. "Don't we?"

"Yeah," he nodded, unsure where this was headed. "I mean, there are certain things you don't know, but you're quick on the uptake and I would never dumb anything down for you. I'm going to say something you must never tell Percy I said: You couldn't be top of your classes—in both years—if you weren't really smart."

She looked like she was mulling something over so Charlie went back to his assignment that was due first thing in the morning. Now and then he heard a noise as though she was going to speak, but when he looked at her, she shook her head. Eventually, she appeared to have collected her thoughts so he put down his quill and folded his hands, prepared to listen.

"The problem," she proclaimed, "is that you're too old and I'm too young."

Charlie forced himself to look lost, to look as though he had no idea what she was saying, and to make sure she did not know how many times he had done the equation. He knew in his heart that no matter how many times one said it, telling people you were eighteen and had a thirteen year old girlfriend sounded wrong. It was a line of reasoning no one should toe.

"I'm sorry, I'm talking embarrassing nonsense," Darcie turned pink. "It's probably time for me to get to bed. Good night, Charlie."

"Sweet dreams, Darcie," he hugged her back before she went to her dormitory.

Something was swelling inside Charlie, it felt like a great balloon lifting his spirits and filling him with hope. Darcie thought about their age difference in terms of having a romantic relationship with him! The difficulty was that regardless of how much thought he gave it or how many different ways he tried to look at it, the result would be the same.

Surprisingly, a few days after he and Darcie had their conversation, Oliver Wood stopped him in a corridor before lunch. "Charlie!"

"Hello, Oliver," he greeted his Keeper.

"Do you have a minute? It's important," he added hastily.

"Yeah, sure. What's on your mind?" Charlie prepared himself for a discussion of Quidditch like a long-winded speech or intricate question.

"You're close to Darcie, right?"

Again Charlie was caught off guard by a question posed by someone in the relationship. "I suppose you could say that. Yeah."

"Does she confide in you?" Wood inquired.

"Well, we're friends," Charlie was unsure he should tell Oliver how close he was to his girlfriend.

"Is that a yes? Charlie, I think I need some help," Oliver looked worried. "I'm not sure we're on the same page, but I don't want to lose her."

If the situation had been less serious, Charlie would have laughed aloud. In less than a week, both Oliver and Darcie had expressed concerns to _him_ about not having much of a connection in their relationship. Charlie willed himself to be as unbiased as possible in his response because it would not due to be seen as the one behind the demise of their relationship...no matter how much he was hoping for it to happen.

"Oliver, I'm going to give you some advice," Charlie began. "I would try talking to her. About something other than Quidditch!"

"Really? But she's so smart. What if she realizes I mostly know about Quidditch?"

Privately, Charlie would have staked his parents' entire life savings on her already knowing that fact. "Have you two done homework together for classes you're both in?"

"No—I don't really want her to compare our work," Wood confessed.

"Give it a shot," Charlie recommended.

"Thanks, Charlie," Wood grinned as they reached the Great Hall. He hurried off to sit next to Darcie.

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A little bit longer than other chapters, but I started one that didn't have enough meat to be a self-respecting chapter so I pasted a couple together. I also had no really great ideas for birthday gifts for people to give Darcie so it passed with no fanfare—I can't remember ever hearing about a celebration of Hermione's birthday except her getting wizarding money in the third book to buy a Crookshanks, so I thought it would be an okay event to pass by. Darcie's now thirteen, yay? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.


	12. Chapter 12

It was almost Charlie's birthday and he had no desire to celebrate. At all. In fact, if he could have skipped right ahead to Christmastime and bypassed all his homework, classes where the teachers were breathing down the necks of all Seventh Year students because this year could determine how they would spend the rest of their lives, and even the times he worked into the early morning on his myriad assignments, he would have.

Things had reverted to almost normal between him and Darcie for which he was grateful, the nights were his sanctuary. Charlie knew she was probably aware her relationship with Oliver had strained her relationship with him so she never brought up her boyfriend except in the most neutral of terms. Instead, they agreed on a schedule for their time alone: after their respective groups had gone in they would work for an hour or until twelve thirty (whichever came first unless they were not alone at twelve thirty which happened occasionally with the Seventh Year students working as much as possible) and the rest of the time would be dedicated to learning Romanian.

"Do they speak only Romanian at the dragon sanctuary?" Darcie wondered.

"Well, the official language is Romanian, but I hear people at the sanctuary muddle through with whatever fragmented sentences get the point across," Charlie chuckled.

"It's probably a good thing you're learning Romanian then," she laughed, too.

"I guess, but I'd rather be flying," Charlie looked in the general vicinity of where the Quidditch pitch was hidden by darkness.

"How _exactly_ do you think you would manage flying at this hour of the night?" She cocked an eyebrow. "You'd be flayed alive if Filch caught you—he wouldn't wait for permission."

"Good point," he returned his gaze to the book in front of him. "How's your Romanian coming along? You better be fluent because I'll need you to translate when you come to visit."

"Better than yours I'd wager," she grinned.

"That's a foregone conclusion. I'm serious, though, I think there's a serious impediment between me and the language," he groaned.

"Why? Charlie, if you like we can converse in Romanian," she offered, laughing.

"Do you derive pleasure from my pain?" He demanded, joking. "You need to give the Romanian a rest because you are making me look bad. Do some homework. Or are you already caught up to Easter?"

"Christmas," she shook her head. "Dating Oliver has sort of taken a toll on my schoolwork," she confessed, frowning slightly.

"Oh?" He was trying to play it as cool as possible, but his ears were pricked for every tiny sigh that might escape her lips.

"We spend half our time together snogging and the other half going over his assignments in minute detail. Charlie," her voice dropped and quavered. "Charlie, am I a terrible girlfriend if I grow frustrated with Oliver when he doesn't catch on quickly? It's just that my mind seems to move at such a fast pace while he takes time."

If Charlie had wanted to tease her he would have said she was, but she looked so anxious and was so earnest he could do nothing except say something to put her mind at rest. "Darcie , you're not a bad girlfriend—you're human. It can be a horrible affliction, and it's 100% terminal, but that's a burden we must bear."

That monologue seemed to stun her into a pensive silence so Charlie left her to her thoughts because he knew that she would have some critical questions for him when she was finished wrestling with her ideas. For almost fifteen minutes Darcie said absolutely nothing and Charlie forced himself to focus on his Romanian because responding to her queries would take time. Eventually she took a deep breath and prepared himself to respond to questions to which there were no correct answers.

"Charlie," she spoke deliberately.

"Darcie, before you ask the multitude of questions I can practically hear percolating behind that pretty face of yours, I have to point out that I'm eighteen and don't have all the answers."

"I know," she nodded. "I see people dying, Charlie. These are people I don't know, but I know they're real. Something big is going to happen soon and I can feel it. And this man, person, thing, whatever, he's responsible. Is it because we're human? Is no one safe once Fate has decided it's his or her turn to die?"

"I wish I had something to say to you about that, Darcie, but I have no clue," he shrugged. "Have you told anyone? Anyone at all? Dumbledore or Professor Trelawney at least?"

"She's useless," Darcie replied derisively and abruptly, but then she looked horrified. "Don't tell anyone I said that! There's no speaking to her about anything—she wants to be special and if you show talent in Sight, she doesn't favour you. Ironically, she loves to be flocked to like a pseudo-celebrity by girls who want to know who they're going to marry."

Charlie had to smile at the girl's barbed comments. "Do you ever see my death?"

"No," she looked genuinely displeased at the question. "That's rather morbid, don't you think?"

"Yes, it has a tinge of the macabre," he admitted. "You can't fault me for being curious, though, can you? Think you worry too much sometimes. Maybe you dream exaggerated depictions of the actual events," he could tell she was as convinced of that theory as he was. "I don't know, Darcie. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she looked like it was the opposite.

"Come here," Charlie opened his arms and she crawled into his arms for a hug. "Whatever is going to happen in the future, we'll face it together. I promise."

"Thank you," she whispered and buried her face between his neck and shoulder.

"And I do believe it is time for us to head to bed. You look exhausted and I have a test in Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow."

"Charlie," she called softly when she was at the bottom of the stairs to her dormitory room.

"Yes, Darcie?" He called in return.

"I love you," it was only the second time she had said it (The first being over the summer) and again it caught him off guard.

"I love you, too," he tried to put as much emotion into those four words as possible.

Charlie found it hard to fall asleep that night as the images Darcie had described were lodged in his brain and would not leave him in peace. He wondered how much of what she saw could be classified as dream and how much could be taken as what would happen sometime in the future. Truthfully, he was not surprised Darcie was prone to night terrors and could hardly sleep alone in a bed—Charlie was not easily frightened, but the picture she painted was graphic and disturbing. It made his heart ache to think of Darcie having to suffer all by herself, but there was little he could do aside from comfort her. When he eventually drifted off to sleep, it was fitful and his dreams were rife with images of Darcie's face without a mouth and with tears in her eyes.

In the morning, he was exhausted and could hardly focus through his classes, but he was happy to see his young friend looked all right albeit a little pale. She looked even better when Charlie saw her at Quidditch practice that night. It had always seemed unfair to Charlie that Gryffindor's first Quidditch match was so early in the year, but all their other games were after Christmas. All the other houses were able to play around the same time. Despite the amount of time between Gryffindor team's matches, they kept practicing. This was Charlie's last year and this was the year he was going to lead Gryffindor to victory.

Fred and George were real assets to the team-Charlie had to admit he had been a little surprised to find that. He knew they were going to be good players, but they had brought surprising unity and morale to Gryffindor's Quidditch team because they brought everyone good cheer whether or not they had had a good practice (which they usually did). Their team was practically flawless—three speedy Chasers, a strong Keeper, two energetic Beaters, and (if he was allowed to say so himself) a fairly skilled Seeker—and they had to win the Cup. They just had to win it.

Darcie and Lee (who was proving an enthusiastic commentator, although not an unbiased one) were at every practice. Even the ones the team was reluctant to attend, but Oliver Wood insisted on having. They were there in snow, rain, sleet, and Charlie had stopped them from going to the Quidditch pitch one day when it had been hailing and he had cancelled the practice. He always wondered who Darcie was watching while she sat in the stands because he was never able to see whose form her eyes were following. She and Lee met the team at the end of every practice and, these days, aside from pecking Oliver and holding his hand, she gave no one her undivided attention which cheered Charlie.

He knew he and Oliver were not really friends, just thrown together by circumstances and the Quidditch team, but Charlie still felt bad about his thoughts regarding Darcie and Oliver's relationship. What kind of person hoped for the demise of a couple? Especially when the people involved were supposed to be close to him. His feelings were horribly bolstered by Darcie's growing discomfort in the relationship—these emotions were revealed to a select few—but there was no help he could give them without hurting himself. It was with resigned silence and practiced ambivalence that Charlie turned deaf ears to Darcie's requests for assistance in her relationship.

By the night before Charlie's birthday he was fed up with homework, teachers, textbooks, and classes; Christmas Holiday could not come soon enough. Darcie was all smiles these days for a reason no one could fathom, and everyone around her was reaping the benefits of her good cheer. Oliver seemed to have a renewed faith in their relationship, Percy was able to chat with her for hours about their shared courses, she was thrilled to help the twins and Lee with their assignments, and Charlie was glad to have her glowing presence with him into the night.

"Will you open my gift right now, Charlie?" Darcie's voice broke into the emptiness that fogged Charlie's brain as he stared at the essay he was supposed to be writing. "It's personal."

"If that's what you want," he nodded, glad to put aside his homework. "What did you get me this year, my dear?"

"You're going to open it in moments, why ask?" She giggled and handed him a rather large present. "Now, remember, it's the thought that counts! Not, necessarily, talent. Right?"

"Of course," he patted the seat next to him and, after handing him the parcel, she sat.

He tore at the paper and came across a medium-sized wooden chest with a brass lock keeping it closed, he extended a hand and she placed a key on his palm. Unlocking the chest, he could not help gasping at the sight. It was a portrait of Darcie and himself sitting in a field, holding hands, and partaking of a picnic—while it was not a masterpiece, it was well done—in a gold frame adorned with real flowers. Clearly, a lot of effort had gone into this birthday present.

"Well?" Her big grey eyes were wide in apprehension.

"You painted this?" He was incredibly impressed. "Darcie, this is fantastic!"

"I used a charm to keep the flowers looking and feeling alive, and another to make us move," she explained.

"That's advanced work, Darcie," he exclaimed. "Should I hang it above my bed?"

"No!" She looked horrified by the idea. "No one else can see this! It's not perfect."

"Then I shall keep it at the top of my trunk, so I can see it whenever I retrieve my things," he promised, not wanting to insist on displaying a work that she seemed to regard as private.

"Please don't show anyone," she begged.

"If that's what you want," he consented and kissed her forehead. "I think it's something of which y should be proud, but I'll respect the wishes of the artist."

"Thank you," she sighed.

"I never knew what a talented artist you were, Darcie," he continued.

"Not really," she shrugged. "I just have an eye for what is aesthetically pleasing."

"You need to learn how to take a compliment," he instructed. "You did a great job, and by giving it to me, I have to think you wanted a little credit."

"I wanted to show you how much I care for you and to wish you a happy birthday," she muttered. "I didn't think I wanted credit for it."

"Darcie, it's okay to want some appreciation for the work you do," he assured her. "Where did you come up with this scene? We look somewhat older than we are now."

"I dreamt it," she confessed. "I don't know what it means, but it's been haunting me since I first pictured it. I liked it so much, I wanted to share it with you."

"Thank you for sharing it with me, I'm touched," he hugged her. "Now, we to bed. Are you staying for Christmas? List goes round tomorrow."

"Yes, I believe I'll stay," she nodded. "What about you and your brothers?"

"Going home," he felt sad that he would be unable to spend his last Christmas as a Hogwarts student there and with Darcie.

"I'll miss you," she squeezed his hand and Charlie was transported to the picture of them sitting in the meadow.

"I'll leave you a big present," he laughed.

"It won't be the same," he knew she knew he was joking, but the serious look on her face made his heart sink because he felt the same way. "Good night, Charlie."

"Good night, Darcie," he kissed her once more, on the cheek, and they both went to bed.

When the list went round the next day, George was shocked to see that Charlie had put his name down to stay at the school over Christmas. Their parents had written them all two weeks ago about how much they were looking forward to seeing them over the Holidays and now Charlie was going to disappoint them. When George showed Fred, he was equally perplexed—it was time to get to the bottom of the query. Their first stop was Percy.

"Hiya, Perce," Fred grinned at their brother.

"Fred, George," Percy looked over his books and the tops of his glasses at the same time. "With what can I help you two today?"

"Are we staying here for Christmas?" George demanded before Fred could speak.

"No, Mother and Father wrote to us and said we were going home. Don't you recall?"

"Well, yes, but Charlie's name is on the list of people who are staying at school for Christmas and we're wondering why," Fred explained eagerly.

"Impossible," Percy shook his head. "Charlie knows we're going home, he would not have signed up to remain here during Christmas. You must have misread the sheet."

"We did not!" Fred was indignant.

"I read it, showed it to Fred, and he read it. We didn't _both_ read it wrong!" George declared. "Besides, how many other guys with names close to Charlie Weasley are in Gryffindor?"

"None," Percy reluctantly agreed. "Perhaps you should go bother him and ask _him_ why he's staying. I, obviously have no satisfactory answer for you."

"See you, Percy," George nodded and they went to find their older, older brother.

Charlie was in the Great Hall finishing tea when the twins barged in. George wanted to know what was happening and they would discover it, no matter what it took, and Fred (as his partner in crime) was going to help him. They sat down on either side of Charlie and both stared at him intently. He raised his eyebrow at his younger brothers and drained his pumpkin juice.

"Yes?" He finally asked, exasperated.

"Why are you staying here for Christmas?" George was, again, quicker than Fred. "Are the rest of us? Do Mum and Dad know?"

"One question at a time, please," Charlie knew it would come to this, he just had not known it would happen so quickly.

"Why are you staying here for Christmas?" The twins asked in unison.

"Homework," he replied promptly. "I need to stay here and work on about a thousand different assignments. I wrote to Mum and Dad about it and while they aren't pleased, they think it's good for me to focus on schoolwork if it's what I want."

"Mental," George muttered to Fred who nodded and they walked away without another word to their brother.

Their final stop was to talk to Darcie whom they found in the library almost asleep next to Oliver Wood who was squinting at the tiny text of a huge book on Transfiguration. The twins sat down across from them and fixed the girl with identical intense looks, she gave them a small smile and relief was clearly written on her face. Wood kissed her on the cheek and nodded, she followed her younger friends out of the library.

"_You're _staying here for Christmas, too?" Fred wondered when they were outside.

"Of course, for the same reason as last year," she shrugged. "Why? Charlie told me you're all headed home."

"Charlie's not," George ejaculated. "He's staying here!"

An odd expression flitted across Darcie's face that George was unable to comprehend so he stopped trying. "He's staying here for Christmas?"

"Yes," George shouted. "Why are you two the only Gryffindor students staying at Hogwarts this year? Why weren't we told?"

"I didn't know Charlie was staying. I thought you would assume I was," she raised an eyebrow. "I'll be staying for the rest of my Christmases, I can only imagine."

George's confusion continued for over a week because no matter how often he talked to them, neither Darcie nor Charlie be persuaded to go to the Burrow for Christmas. So, when it came time to leave for the Hogwarts Express, George, Fred, Lee, Percy, and Oliver Wood were all kissed goodbye by Darcie and had their hands shaken by Charlie. George liked Oliver well enough, but he was not keen on spending the entire ride to King's Cross Station watching him mope, but, luckily, he was swept away by some other Fourth Years and he was left with Lee and Fred.

"And then there were two," Charlie declared as he and Darcie picked their favourite seats in the common room, dragged them in front of the fire, and sat down. "Looks like it's just us, kid."

"I noticed there were about a dozen students staying, so it's more like "and then there were fourteen plus all the teachers", really," Darcie teased.

"You're too smart for my own good," he had said it before and he had no doubt he would say it again in the future. "Also, a little precocious."

"Only a little?" She smiled crookedly. "It's time for supper."

"I just got comfortable," he groaned.

"Come on," she extended her hand and helped him stand.

~:+:~

Christmas Day was grey and fat snowflakes were plopping down on the window sill outside of Charlie's dormitory room and in the foggy light of the room, he almost forgot where he was. It came to him eventually. He rose from his four-poster and meandered down the stairs to the common room where he expected to find Darcie. Surprisingly, all he saw was the Christmas tree with piles of presents underneath—most of them for his friend.

"Good morning," Darcie came downstairs almost an hour later and Charlie found he had fallen back to sleep. "You didn't spend the night asleep in that chair last night, did you?"

"No, of course I didn't. I slept in my bed. I just came down here and took a seat—I must have drifted off," he explained. "I was shocked to see that there was no one already here. You stay up all night reading? I know I was out before one."

"I slept in, I thought that was allowed," she smiled. "Happy Christmas, Charlie."

"Happy Christmas," he took her hand and they sat together on a couch. "Shall we open our gifts and go for breakfast or are you as hungry as I am?"

"Famished," she exclaimed. "The presents will still be here after we eat."

"Fred and George have probably already made sure the entire family has opened gifts and now Mum is slaving over a breakfast," Charlie predicted. "Then again, Ginny can get a little excited for Christmas. Dad is likely crawling back into bed trying to get a few more minutes of rest."

Darcie laughed appreciatively at that and Charlie felt like he could hardly care less about what his family was doing that Christmas Day because he was the only getting Darcie's attention right then. They ate quickly and Charlie was almost certain that, while she was trying to appear mature and restrained, Darcie did want to go back to Gryffindor Tower. It was a good assortment of presents, but Charlie wanted, desperately, for Darcie to open the gift he had given her. After the beautiful birthday present she had bestowed upon him, he had scoured catalogues from Diagon Alley for the perfect Christmas gift for her.

"Charlie!" Darcie shrieked and he knew she had opened what he had purchased for her.

"You called?" He pretended her pitch had hurt his ears.

"It's beautiful!" She pulled out the charm bracelet he had actually charmed.

Once he had seen it, he had stopped at nothing to obtain the piece of jewellery for his girl (huge space inserted by Charlie) friend. It was adorned with gemstones for friendship and romance, even spritzed with a love potion—to Charlie it smelled like soap, parchment, and the Hogwarts library—that he knew she would never ingest, but would, hopefully, one day smell of him. _From_ Darcie, he received fur boot linings.

~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~

This took a very long time. I'm sorry about the wait, but I've been sick, making plans to move, and finishing up classes at my school. I'm already thinking about the end of the school year for Hogwarts. I _really_ want Charlie to have the feather in his cap of winning the Quidditch Cup, we all know, though, that is not to be. Please R/R!


	13. Chapter 13

Truthfully, Charlie had signed up to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas to spend time with Darcie without her boyfriend and his brothers, and his homework claim had been to keep his family off his back, but he was actually doing a lot of schoolwork. It was hardly surprising seeing how dedicated Darcie was to her essays and assignments so he just worked alongside her and soaked in her presence. When the weather was nice, though, they went outside because neither could bear to be indoors while the sun was shining and the air was crisp. There was one snowball fight, but Charlie had so dominated the thing that Darcie refused to repeat the activity. Mostly they walked, side by side, around the grounds, sometimes speaking and sometimes in silence.

He did, however, have a secret wish he wanted to fulfill before the end of the holidays—he wanted to be able to sleep with Darcie like they had over the summer. It was an odd desire, but the days they spent together were so reminiscent of those from months earlier that it seemed strange they did not even sleep in the same room at night. A plan came to him, though, on the night before everyone was due to arrive back at school.

"I'm exhausted," Darcie declared and threw down her quill. "The last night of our Christmas holidays and I'm tired. The twins will be very disappointed in me. I should go to bed."

"Really?" Charlie infused the word with as much of a plaintive note as he dared. "You never say it's time for you to go to bed. Are you ill?"

"No," she shrugged, "I just think it's best for me to get as much sleep as possible before your brothers and my boyfriend return."

Charlie laughed. "Stay a little longer, please. I won't be long and then we'll both go upstairs and sleep until the noise of our classmates rips us from the cobweb-like fabric of our dreams."

"That was poetic," Darcie looked a little stunned.

"Impressed?"

"Very," she nodded. Charlie noticed her eyelids were getting heavy.

"Come over here," he put out his hand and she sat next to him. "Wait a little longer—you can read, or do some more work, or rest your head for a few minutes—I'll finish up and we'll go to sleep. What do you say?"

"Okay," she yawned and opened a book.

Five minutes later, Darcie was asleep on Charlie's shoulder and he was definitely feeling sleepy enough to drift off as well. He shifted himself ever so carefully, so as not to wake his friend, into a comfortable position and let his own head loll against Darcie's. Moments later, both were sleeping peacefully on the couch.

Charlie was awoken by Darcie's cry. "Charlie! We fell asleep. How did you let this happen?"

"What?" He was glad he had an excuse to be fuzzy about details. "What are we doing here? Ouch—I have a dreadful crick in my neck. Are we still in the common room?"

"Yes we're still in the common room. You were supposed to wake me when you are finished," she frowned at him.

"I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep working on my essay. I remember wanting to rest my eyes for a few minutes, but maybe it ended up being all night," he blinked.

"I have such a cramp in my shoulders," she complained.

"Come here. We learned how to massage certain beasts in Care of Magical Creatures, I'm sure it's the same principle with humans," he put his hands on her upper back. "Do you know what time it is? Breakfast soon?"

"It's eight. Do you know how much trouble we could have been in if we were found here asleep together?" She was not going to be led away from the topic.

"At least we weren't in the same bed," he pointed out and that earned him a wry smile from the girl. "There we go. Darcie, nothing happened. No one saw us, and even if they did, we just fell asleep doing homework."

"And I just happened to end up in your arms?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"We were asleep," he said slowly. "No one cares. How do you feel?"

"Better, thanks," she gave him a grudging smile. "Let's go get some breakfast—I'm really hungry."

"Charlie," Darcie began that afternoon as they tramped through the snow away from Hagrid's hut where they had been given hot tea and rock cakes.

"Darcie," Charlie replied, smiling.

"Why do you choose to spend so much time with me? I'm so much younger than you and I know you could easily find companionship with people closer to your own age. Why me?"

"I can't tell you that," they stopped and he looked her in the eye. "I just feel happy around you, Darcie. I feel like I can be myself and you don't care if I say something stupid or if I don't have anything at all to say. I can just _be_ with you. Do you want me to leave you alone?"

"No!" Her eyes widened in terror. "No, it's not that I don't like spending time with you, I just wonder why you choose to hang around with me."

"Why do you spend so much time with _me_?" He countered.

"I'm madly in love with you," she said simply. Charlie felt like his heart had literally stopped until she began to laugh. "Because I trust you, and I, too, feel like I can be myself around you. When I'm with Oliver, I always have to be in girlfriend mode. With Fred, George, and Lee I have to be in happy mode all the time. If I'm talking to Percy, it's about school. Around you, though, I can be me."

"Good—I don't want you to feel like you have to be someone else around me. In fact, I might even be insulted if there was a certain way you acted with me," he took her hand in his. "I love you, Darcie."

"I do believe that is the first time you have ever said that to me first," she exclaimed.

"I think you're right. Well, I do love you," he kissed her pink cheeks.

"And I love you," she squeezed his hand.

"I can't feel my toes, shall we go back to the common room?" He suggested, really wanting to warm himself in front of the roaring fire.

"Let's," she agreed and they ran back to the castle.

After that day, they no longer talked about their friendship, the parameters seemed to be properly defined and Charlie was unsure whether he ever wanted to risk somehow altering the perfect relationship they shared. At dusk, the school was, once again, filled with teenagers, noise, and people that impeded Charlie's ability to spend time with Darcie. Oliver Wood spirited her away immediately and no one saw them until dinnertime. Later, Darcie was seen wearing beautiful crystal jewellery and everyone knew from whom it was gifted. The twins and Lee high-jacked her attention after the meal to catch her up to date on the latest goings-on at the Burrow (Charlie had to hear it from Percy).

That night the common room was packed with people who had put off a lot of their Christmas homework too late and Darcie was practically joined at Oliver at the hip helping him through his work. Charlie wondered if Oliver had been able to do anything without her help, then Charlie felt like a terrible person and talked to River until it was midnight and River planned to go to bed. There was no chance for Charlie to speak to Darcie that evening because he was tired before Oliver Wood had even left the common room. She smiled brightly at Charlie, but immediately turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

No one ever enjoyed the first day back at classes after Christmas because there was always the inevitable foul-tempered teacher who would berate any student for not finishing their work, so George was happy when they were over. He, Fred, and Lee were going to the Gryffindor common room when they passed Darcie who looked absolutely miserable. George took her left hand, Lee took her right, and Fred made the path for them to cut through the hallways. Finding a secluded bench, the four friends took a seat and the boys tried to establish what had happened.

"Darcie, what's wrong?" Lee inquired.

"You look terrible," chimed in Fred.

"Nice," George rolled his eyes.

"I have to break it off with Oliver," she confessed.

"Why?" Fred asked.

"Does it matter? She wants to break it off," George put in quickly.

"There might be a specific reason and maybe we can help," Lee said pointedly.

"We don't connect, guys," she frowned. "You saw the gift he gave me. Yes, the pieces are lovely, but they aren't to my taste at all. And all he wants to do is talk about Quidditch or snog. I'm serious. I have to force him to do homework."

The three boys had no idea how to respond to these claims; on the one hand, they were hoping she would be coming back to them, but on the other, they hated the idea of her being hurt in a breakup. She sat there in front of them with a face of stone, sadness etched in every bone of her angular face and they were at a loss. How were they supposed to deal with her pain and sorrow? They were twelve and none of them had enough experience with girls to rub together to get even a semblance of what was happening in Darcie' life.

"I'm sorry, Darcie," was all Fred could think to say and it seemed so inadequate.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm such a downer," she smiled brightly, but it did not quite reach her eyes.

"I hear there's flank steak for tea tonight," Lee offered. "Shall we see if the rumours are true?"

"Yes!" George and Darcie said at the same time.

Charlie was brought up to speed by Darcie that night in the common room after Oliver had kissed her good night and they were certain he would not be returning. She spilled no tears and her resolved seemed to have strengthened. Unknown to anyone, Charlie's heart swelled as much as George's at the idea that Darcie might be single after a few months spent with Wood.

"Are you sure you can't work it out?" He had to be certain.

"There's nothing to be reconciled," she shrugged. "We're just two different people. I like Quidditch as much as the next person, but I cannot talk about it for hours every single day. And my lips were almost raw when he left at Christmas—they've only just healed!"

"I see," Charlie had to laugh and she managed a giggle. "When do you think you're going to deal the blow? It's just…"

"You have a Quidditch match in February," she supplied. "I know. I'll do it as soon as possible, I promise. I do _not_ want to be in this relationship until then. He's a great boy, but he's not the right person for me."

"Well, if you don't think he's right for you, then you owe it to both him and yourself to part so you can find people who do make you happy," he advised, choosing his words carefully.

"Thank you for understanding," she threw her arms around his neck. "You realize, though, that I won't be able to attend Quidditch practices for a while, right?"

"Why?" He had _not_ realized that.

"Because I can't show up in his territory like nothing happened and watch everyone else. It isn't fair to either of us," she explained.

"I see your point," it was not an easy point to take, but he understood and thought that she had to be the sweetest person by whom to be dumped. "But after February, you'll be back?"

"Most likely," she nodded.

Darcie dumped Oliver the very next day and Charlie was thrilled—she was back on the market—but that night she told him, the twins, and Lee that she would probably not date again for a long time because she was having no luck Seeing a boy in her near future. So, Charlie, and Wood, and George focused their energies on training for their match against Hufflepuff on 16 February, all of them somehow distracted by Darcie's absence far more than they typically had been by her actual presence. In Charlie's opinion, they were ready and beating Hufflepuff would just show every man affected by Darcie that he could function without paying attention to her every move.

The day of the match was cold, but not biting, and it was snowing a little which was not terrible seeing as it was the middle of February. He was really looking forward to the match, and it seemed he was not the only one as everyone in Gryffindor suddenly wanted to be his best friend, wish him well, and be able to say they knew him. The whole team was silent in the changing rooms before the match began, even Fred and George looked slightly nervous as they headed out, praying the snow only lessened and did not worsen, _at all_.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch instructed and Charlie gripped the hand of Hufflepuff's captain in a friendly but determined manner.

The match was a long one—almost three hours—mainly because neither Seeker was able to see the Snitch through the driving snow. Charlie would have done anything to stop the snow, but it picked up an hour into the match and the two captains refused to end it early. Eventually, Charlie noticed the tiny ball hovering low to the ground, weighted down with heavy snowflakes, and ended the match. Everyone was grateful for the conclusion and hurried inside to partake of lunch and set to work on their weekend homework.

"Charlie, you did it!" Darcie grabbed his hand as they left the Great Hall. "You won _another_ Quidditch match! Do I see the Cup in your future?"

"I don't know; do you?" He hoped it was her way of hinting that she had, in fact, seen Gryffindor win the Cup. "Did you see that dive I made today?"

"Of course! It was incredible. I have to say, though, Oliver did some pretty impressive manoeuvring this morning. Can I tell him that? Or should I stay away from him?"

"I'd avoid it," he advised. "I think he's still a little sore."

"Will you tell him he did well for me?" She inquired. "I don't want to make him uncomfortable on a day when he really shone in front of the whole school."

"I will let him know," he promised. "Think Fred and George will have wrangled up enough food for a proper celebration by now?"

"Yes," she nodded.

~:+:~

The next weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and everyone Charlie knew was using it as the day to celebrate Valentine's Day because there had hardly been time the previous week. That meant he had no idea with whom he would spend the day (most of his friends were coupled up and he had no desire to be an odd man out), and he almost decided not to bother going. Darcie, however provided him with a great excuse to go on the outing.

"I don't think I'm going to go to Hogsmeade this weekend," Charlie lamented early Wednesday morning as he sat with Darcie in the common room and she quizzed him on his Romanian—hers was still far superior.

"No?" She frowned as she looked over his verbs. "But I was going to ask if we could go together. I mean, I would have gone with Oliver, but…"

"Yeah," he grimaced. "Then let's the two of us go."

"Hurray!" Darcie clapped her hands. "Your conjugations are a shambles, Charles."

"I'm sorry," he truly was repentant, but nothing seemed to matter outside of his outing with Darcie for the coming weekend.

"I'm so glad I have someone I can go to Hogsmeade with this weekend. Don't tell him this, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to go to Percy on my knees and ask him. You're such a great friend, Charlie!" Darcie kissed him on the cheek.

"Always happy to help a friend," he ignored the punched-in-the-gut feeling he had developed suddenly and stood quickly. "It's time for me to get to bed. Night, Darcie."

"G'night, Charlie," she beamed up at him from where she continued to sit.

When Saturday rolled around, Charlie could barely hide how excited he was to spend the day alone with Darcie in a place swarming with couples. Granted, they were not _exactly_ in a couple themselves, but surely the romantic feelings could not fail to stir up something. Recently Charlie had needed no prodding to have feelings for Darcie that were more than just friendly, but it could do no harm for her to be pushed in that direction. They met in the common room Saturday morning and Charlie was immediately (almost sickeningly) reminded that Darcie was still only thirteen. She looked adorable in her regular clothes, but she certainly looked her age out of her uniform.

"Hi, Charlie!" Darcie grinned at him. "Shall we head off—I would like to be able to leave without seeing the twins or Lee (I even went to breakfast early) because they're not really happy I get to go to Hogsmeade and they don't."

"You're a Third Year, Darcie. You're allowed to go to Hogsmeade—they're not. Next year, all four of you can go and enjoy yourselves," he shrugged and helped her climb through the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Thanks again for accompanying me today," she began as they walked through the halls. "I told you I would have gone with Oliver but for our breakup, and Percy loves to prattle on about rather than do anything, and many of the girls who were friendly to me while I was dating Oliver seem to have gone off me. I don't think they understand my position."

"Hey, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be going today. Most of my older friends are in couples and planning to spend the day celebrating the Valentine's Day they weren't able to have at school. I didn't want to be the one guy there without a date," he commiserated. "You're not exactly the kind of date they would anticipate either. Not that this is a date. Or that there's something about you that would make someone not want to date you. It's just…"

"Charlie, relax," she chuckled. "It's just that I'm thirteen and you're nineteen. Trust me, I know this is no date.

Somehow her attempt to make him feel better made Charlie feel even more despondent about their situation. Their trip to Hogsmeade was a silent one, and not their regular, relaxed, silence, but a tense one where neither knew quite what to say. They received some odd looks from their fellow students as they trudged through the snow and Charlie felt extremely conspicuous, he even doubted if it had been the wisest decision to go to Hogsmeade with a Third Year, but they reached the village and a weight seemed lifted.

"Where shall we go first?" Charlie wondered.

"Three Broomsticks," she replied automatically. "Charlie, it is freezing out here."

"Perfect. Come along," he took her hand and they fairly ran to the pub. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you," she gave a little curtsey, giggled, and entered the building.

Charlie acquired two butterbeers (paid for by Darcie who had forced the money into his hand) while she found a spot, they were early enough to be able to grab a corner booth for the two of them. They spent the first hour at the Three Broomsticks and the next few exploring the village together playing a game Charlie had fabricated as a way to keep them entertained and alone: they had to avoid Percy at all costs. It resulted in much laughter, and running, and pretending not to see him if he waved. By the time they returned to the castle, all earlier awkwardness had been forgotten.

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Another chapter hot on the heels of the last. There's been a problem with my account so I've been writing and writing while waiting for a response. I hope you like this one.


	14. Chapter 14

George was trying to make his move with Darcie. He was tired of falling just into the "friends" category with this girl—he more than fancied her, he would go so far as to say he really was in love with her. It was hard to determine why these feelings prevailed despite no encouragement from the recipient. She never gave him a sign that she cared for him as anything more than a friend; in fact, she seemed to stress that they were only friends.

"You're back to practices," George exclaimed when he saw her rush down from the stands to give him and Fred big congratulatory hugs.

"Oliver did so well at the last match, and it has been a long time since I was out here, I thought it would be okay for me to return," Darcie informed.

"We missed you," George told her, linking his arm with hers. "Did you see me hit that ball to Fred, Darcie?"

"The one that nearly knocked me off my broom!" Fred put in, indignant.

"I was impressed at your strength, George. And, Fred, I was impressed you _stayed_ on your broom," she beamed at them both.

"Darcie could hardly watch," Lee teased her. "She was ready to burst into tears, and she would have if Fred had fallen off his broom."

"Thanks for that, Lee," she elbowed him in the stomach. "What would I do if one of you three was incapacitated, hmmm?"

"True. Hey, Darcie, can you help me with my Charms homework? It's due tomorrow and I couldn't figure it out," George pleaded.

"Do you two need help, too?" She looked at the other Second Years.

"Nah, I finished three days ago," Lee shook his head.

"Yesterday," Fred added.

"Of course I'll give you a hand," Darcie gave him a side hug.

That night, George and Darcie spent hours getting him up-to-date on all of his assignments and he never wanted it to end. True, very little of the knowledge Darcie was trying to instil in him was actually sticking, but they were spending time together and she was smiling so it had to be a good thing. When they were finished, George knew he had to tell her how he felt or risk dying a slow, painful, heartbroken death. He resolved to tell her how he felt about her before the end of the week. Three days later, the proper moment arrived.

"Darcie, we need to talk about something important," George pulled her aside before they entered the Great Hall for lunch.

"Did my help with your Astronomy essay not work well?" She knit her brows together.

"No, it's not about homework," he shook his head. "It's about you."

"What about me?" Her eyes widened. "George, I'm fine."

"Then it's about me," he was already doubting whether this was the right course of action.

"It's about the two of us?" She looked perplexed. "What about us?"

"Darcie, I have something important to tell you," he took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love with you, and I don't know if you could ever feel the same way about me, but I needed you to know how I feel."

"George, when I was little I used to go to the Muggle library and there was this one book I read called "Gone with the Wind" by a Muggle author. The main character spends the entire book in love with a man who doesn't love her back and never can," she smiled. "He loves another woman, but she cannot accept it. You're one of my dearest friends and I would hate to ever lose you. But, George, I love another. This is something you should accept right now."

"You love someone else?" His mouth dropped open. "Who? You're not back to fancying Wood are you?"

"Oliver? Good heavens, no!" She shook her head. "I won't tell you whom, but you need to know that it…it isn't you."

"Wow," he let out all of his breath in a gush. "You can tell me, though. I won't say a word to anyone—not even Fred."

"No, George. I love you, you know that, right?"

"I know. I just needed to get it off my chest," he shrugged.

Funnily enough, after his confession, George's feelings for Darcie seemed to diminish, he still loved her, but it was in friendship. Fred and Lee pried and wondered why things had changed in what he felt for her, but he could bring himself to tell them neither that he had admitted all his feelings to her nor that she was in love with someone. It did eat at him that he did not know who was number one in his friend's heart.

~:+:~

After Easter was when Charlie really began to feel the pressure of his impending NEWTs and he was only writing five. The whole year had been dedicated to preparing the Seventh Years for these examinations, but Charlie was never one to worry too much about anything. The beginning of April, however brought not only Fred and George's thirteenth birthday, but also the realization that Charlie's time at Hogwarts was nearly finished. He and all his fellow students upped their study periods by whole hours and after midnight the Gryffindor common room was filled with Seventh Years, Fifth Years, and Darcie.

"Do you stay up this late for me?" Charlie inquired of the girl one morning at three thirty.

"Yes," she nodded. "I have no other opportunity to talk to you and we're both awake into the wee hours."

"I'm flattered, but I hate the idea of you losing sleep on my account," he could no longer read so he closed his Charms textbook.

"Look at it this way, Charlie: I have around a dozen of my own exams to write—I'm not exactly sitting here waiting for you to finish studying," she explained. "You have a point," he conceded although the idea of twiddling her thumbs until she could receive his undivided attention was an appealing one. "Are you going to be all right writing so many tests? They may be just the ordinary school exams, but they're going to be tough and, in your case, plentiful."

"I took fourteen exams last year and I'm taking the same number this year," she shrugged. "It's the scheduling that's the worst part. I have practical and theory exams in every course, but some of my courses are doubles. I don't have time to write and perform four examinations in one day. Well…I'm going into seclusion for ten days."

"Seclusion for ten days this year?" He was stunned. "Last year it was only every day."

"I sit an exam every single morning and perform the theory in the day. Astronomy at night," she sighed. "Next year I'm taking only nine courses—I swear! One Year in each, but I'm taking some OWLs, too."

"Just thinking of all your schoolwork makes me tired," Charlie yawned for real. "I do believe you're mental (for the record) and perhaps a little too ambitious. I support you."

"Do you know that, by the time I leave Hogwarts I will have taken over sixty courses," she laughed, but it seemed tinged with hysteria.

"Come here," he instructed, arms open for an embrace. "You'll get through it. And I told you I support you even if you _are_ mad. It's time for bed, though, right now—we're both exhausted."

"Fred, George, and Lee say I bring logic and level-headedness to their lives, but I do believe you bring it to mine," she hugged him.

"I suppose, but I only tell you what you already know," he assured her. "Good night, Love."

"Sleep tight," she kissed him on the forehead and dashed upstairs to her dormitory room.

So Charlie and his peers set to work preparing for the NEWTs they were going to sit in the next few months; they worried about grades and a girl in Gryffindor actually broke out in strange blue hives she was so nervous. The Seventh Years had a bit of a leg up on the petrified Fifth Years because they had experienced important exams, having already written their OWLs, but Charlie still felt ill-equipped for the momentous experience ahead. He also was training his team for the final Quidditch match of the school year. If they lost, Hufflepuff would win the Cup, but if they won, Charlie would leave Hogwarts in a blaze of glory—successful Quidditch Captain, offers to play Quidditch for England, scholarship to study dragons in Romania, and (fingers crossed) good grades on all of his NEWTs.

Occasionally Charlie would worry about how Darcie was looking—tired and grey. He was certain she was working too hard getting ready for her marathon of exams; on the other hand, he fretted she was having terrible nightmares again. She gave him weak smiles whenever he grinned at her and they rarely spoke at night.

"Darcie," Charlie closed the book she was reading, "can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," she looked up at him.

"Do we win this year?" He had to know.

"I don't know. I wouldn't tell you if I did know. Please just promise you will be careful," she begged. "I'm not sure what will happen, but I feel it's bad."

"I will," he nodded.

The Quidditch finals were held on 11 May that year and Gryffindor was practically a lock to win. Ravenclaw would not win the Cup unless they won by over 210 points, Slytherin had no chance, and Hufflepuff would win only if Gryffindor scored fewer than 90 points. Charlie was positive his team would not only score more than 90 points, they would win the match. He knew that even if his Chasers scored absolutely no goals, he could win the match as long as he was the first to catch the Snitch.

The second Saturday of May was warm and grey. Charlie woke up and grinned at River who was awake as well and he smiled back. Both boys knew it was the time for Gryffindor to win the Quidditch Cup.

The Ravenclaw captain looked like she was torn between feeling resigned to the fact there was almost no way for her team to win the Cup and wanting to make Gryffindor really work for their glory. Charlie shook her hand, he was elated because his team was going to win, and everyone took their positions on the pitch. All the balls were released, the players took off, and that was the last thing Charlie remembered until he woke up in the Hospital Wing with Darcie by his side.

"Darcie?" He had a terrible throbbing in his head, shoulders, and neck.

"Oh, Charlie," her face was stained with tears, "Thank God you're awake!"

"Start at the beginning in a very soft voice, please," he requested.

"You don't remember anything?" She looked at him piercingly.

"Not after Hooch blew her whistle," he shook his head which sent shooting pain down his back. "Come on."

"Well, you lasted about fifteen minutes on your broom, but a Bludger hit you in the chest and you fell to the ground—Dumbledore helped you down, though, he didn't want you any more severely injured," she began. "You broke your collar bone, and fractured your skull, and dislocated a shoulder. No one knows which Beater hit the Bludger, so the twins feel dreadful."

"Darcie, tell me we won," he was finding it very hard to breathe and it was not due to his injuries.

"They tried, but no one except the Seeker can catch the Snitch," she reminded.

"We lost," he felt ill. "I lost the Cup for Gryffindor _again_."

"Charlie, it wasn't your fault!" Darcie held his hand tightly. "Charlie, you were hit in the chest with a _Bludger_, it's not like you're responsible for falling off your broom."

"I'm responsible for leading my team to victory," he protested.

"Charlie!" Darcie wailed and he winced. "Charlie, you could have died. Do you not understand that? You are alive and no one cares that you lost!"

"I care," he muttered. "We lost and I fell off my broom."

"You're ridiculous," she frowned. "The team is here, I'm going to the common room. I'll see you later. I'm glad you're alive, even if you aren't."

"Charlie!" Oliver was the first one he saw. "You're conscious! Last time we were in here, you were pretty out of it."

"He's only just come round," Darcie informed and hugged the twins. "See you later."

"We are so sorry, Charlie," Fred spoke, he and George were the colour of porridge. "I don't know who it was, but if it was me, I'm really sorry."

"Me, too!" George put in, brows furrowed. "The Ravenclaw Beaters feel pretty terrible."

"They may have won the match, but they're put out because they didn't win the Cup. But anyone could have seen that coming," Wood scoffed.

"I'm sorry, guys, I let you all down," Charlie buried his head in his hands.

"Forget it," Fred urged.

"We don't care," George nodded. "At least we didn't have to scoop up your remains in the Cup we could have won at your expense."

"Lovely, George," Charlie rolled his eyes, but he did feel better knowing that he, himself, was the only one who actually blamed him for the loss.

"Everyone out," Madam Pomfrey bustled over to the group. "This boy is going to rest. Mr. Weasley, your bones are healed, but I'm keeping you overnight to make sure you are all right."

Charlie recovered quickly from his physical injuries, but his wounded ego would take longer to fully heal, especially when Slytherins would take the mickey about his falls; watching the Hufflepuffs in their glee at beating Gryffindor also helped little. His moans about losing were tolerated for two days, but, eventually, they began to fall on deaf ears. Darcie was the least sympathetic which grated on him because they simply did not see eye to eye on the issue and she was one of the people he cared about most in the world. She believed the important element was that he was alive while he was upset about the loss.

"Darcie, you need to talk to me," Charlie ordered one night once he had given up on studying. Exams were going to start at the beginning of the week.

"I asked you to promise you would be careful," she looked at him sternly. "You ignored me and now all that worries you is that you lost."

"I'm sorry," he was slightly taken aback. "I don't even remember what happened. If I was not careful or whatever."

"You promised," she stated.

"I'm sorry. That's all I can say to this," he felt upset and she looked upset. "Why didn't you tell me what would happen?"

"I told you that I just knew something bad was going to happen. Can we call a truce?" She climbed into his lap a snaked her arms around his neck.

"Truce," he agreed. "I believe you would have told me what was coming if you knew I was going to get destroyed by a Bludger."

"I would," she assured. "I was devastated when I saw you fall. You saw I was crying while I was at your bedside."

"Seeing you with tears in your eyes almost killed me," he stroked her hair. "Darcie, I love you, but I must go upstairs and get to bed."

"Good night, Charlie," she kissed him on the cheek and went back to her spot in front of her textbook and papers.

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The day exams started, a blanket of tension fell over the entire castle and Charlie's nerves were as tightly-strung as he could remember them ever being. Charlie's first exam was Transfiguration and he was barely nervous, he wished River good luck, waved to Darcie (who was writing her Third Year Divination exam), and all students found seats in the Great Hall. The written examination went well and, when he was finished, he turned his attention to the practical test that afternoon. He missed seeing Darcie's smiling face around the corridors, but she was in isolation somewhere in the castle to keep her from anyone who was writing the same exams she was.

"What's going on with you, Charlie?" George demanded at dinner one night partway through the testing period. "You look awful."

"Stress I suppose," he lied.

"You didn't even have an exam today!" Fred accused.

"You lot come talk to me when you write _your_ NEWTs," Charlie snapped.

"Kidding, kidding," George held up his hands in surrender. "How do you think Darcie is doing these days all alone?"

"She's fine," Lee declared. "Come on, she's spent most her life away from people her own age, I'm sure a week and a half alone is going to make her mental."

"Lee has a point. She's quite resilient that one," Fred agreed.

"I miss her," Lee was the first one to say it. "No offence, mates, but it's better to study with her than you two."

"You'll get no argument from me," George shook his head.

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That night, Fred and George went on a Darcie hunt. It was easy with the incredible map they had come across in Filch's office the year before: all they had to do was look for the little dot with the label _Darcie Burke_. There seemed to be no one on guard, but she was located in a room next to the one housing Minerva McGonagall. The twins climbed out of the portrait of the Fat Lady—on the pretext of going to the lavatory—and rushed to where Darcie was.

"Do you think she'll be happy to see us?" George asked his brother as they both kept a wary eye on the map to make certain they were not near Filch or Mrs. Norris.

"Course she will," Fred proclaimed. "She's all by herself. Think we should have brought Lee with us?"

"How do we explain how we know where we're going? How we know we won't be caught by Filch or his stupid cat? We swore we wouldn't tell anyone about the Marauder's Map," George reminded. "Besides, he's going mental about our Charms exam tomorrow."

"Good point. Let's pick up the pace a little, Mrs. Norris is on her way," Fred urged.

When their names reached the room where Darcie's name was, George tapped lightly on the door and whispered, "Darcie."

"Fred and George? I should have known you two would find me," Darcie's smiling face peeked through the small crack in the open door. "You two could get me in so much trouble if anyone sees or hears you!"

"Then let us in," Fred ordered. "We'll be quiet, I promise."

"Fifteen minutes. That is how long you are allowed to stay in this room," Darcie opened the door just wide enough for them to enter.

"How are you doing all by yourself?" George inquired.

"I'm fine," she informed. "I'm tired of writing so many exams. You lot have one written and one practical exam a day and I have ten days to write and perform almost thirty. It's tiring. How is everyone in the great wide world?"

"Lee misses you, Percy will bite the head off of anyone who even speaks to him, and Charlie looks like someone killed his puppy," Fred caught her up on the situation.

"You don't look so well yourself. Are they feeding you in this prison?" George wondered.

"I told you, it's just a tiring state of affairs. I'm all by myself for hours each day and when I am with other students, I'm not allowed to speak to them," she shrugged. "I need to sleep, boys."

"We'll go," George silenced his twin with a sharp look.

Darcie was let out of isolation a few days later and the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Years waited impatiently for their end of term marks. Darcie passed with an overall average of a hundred and one percent. Fred managed an eighty, George seventy-seven, and Lee obtained eighty-one for his work. Percy seemed torn between wanting to know how he compared to Darcie and being scared of what he would find if he asked. Charlie had resigned himself to the fact he would not know his grades for another few weeks and simply celebrated how well his friends and brothers in lower Years had fared.

The End of Year Feast was the best meal Fred had ever had at Hogwarts short of the previous year's Christmas Feast. The next day, all the students lugged their trunks down to the Entrance Hall so they could be loaded up for the Hogwarts Express. On the train, the twins, Lee, and Darcie found a compartment together. Oliver Wood boarded after them and peeked his head into their compartment, ducking out as quickly as possible when he saw who occupied it.

"Darcie, you're bright red!" George guffawed.

"Shut up," she whacked him on the arm.

"We'll let you alone once you stop blushing every time Oliver Wood comes closed than five feet," Fred pledged.

"Just wait until you get your first girlfriend," Darcie laughed. "The one who does it first will have to live it down forever."

"Can I hide out in here?" Charlie knocked on the door of their compartment. "The couples in my compartment are being cutesy."

"And Arielle is bringing you into it?" Fred asked.

"Ew!" Darcie shuddered and Charlie grinned at her.

"No, I just don't care to be around them. It grows tiring," Charlie sat next to Fred.

"You two are both coming to visit us this summer, right?" George addressed Lee and Darcie.

"Only if I'm invited by the Ferret parents," she nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll be there. Especially if Darcie's around," Lee swore.

"Hopefully Mum and Dad will write earlier this summer. Now they know who you are, they should have no problem inviting you," George said knowingly.

"I think she should come the middle of August," Charlie proposed. "That's Percy's birthday and then I'm going off to Romania. It's the perfect time for her to visit."

"But that's really late in the summer," Fred protested.

"It is, but it does sound like the perfect time," Darcie pointed out to them.

When the train reached Kings Cross Station, everyone had been brought around to the idea that the middle of August really was the ideal time for Darcie to come to the Burrow. Darcie hugged all four of the boys and Percy, who had come up to them, before joining her great aunt, and soon she was out of sight. The Weasleys were embraced by their mother, said goodbye to Lee, and headed home.

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Another chapter written while waiting for something to happen with my account. I know this year was short, but there are more chapters to come and I'm eager for Charlie to be out of school. Also, I'm debating a chapter from Darcie's perspective…thoughts? Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed.


	15. Chapter 15

There was far less fuss made over Darcie's second visit than there had been for the first—Charlie was fairly certain that it was due to the fact Mrs. Weasley was now aware just how much Darcie actually cared about the state of the home. Fred and George were so excited about Darcie's impending visit they were sleeping almost as little as Charlie. Percy was locked in his bedroom doing his schoolwork every single day ad Charlie wondered privately if Percy was worried he would not be made a prefect.

Charlie was unaware of it, but he was having the same inner battle George had faced earlier in the year. He was struggling with what exactly he was going to do with his feelings for Darcie. There were so many reasonable arguments for both sides of the subject. Firstly, the reason that dominated every moment he thought about confessing the way he felt: she was so much younger than he. Secondly, he was going to Romania and she would be returning to Hogwarts. Thirdly, he worried that if he said nothing, he could no longer be friends with her, that he might explode from the agony of his pent up emotions.

Darcie, and the Hogwarts letters, arrived the second week of August, she for her two week stay at the Burrow. Everyone eagerly gathered in front of the fireplace before she was due to arrive. Fred and George looked elated but exhausted and Percy looked very pale from so many hours indoors. Molly had seen Darcie's great aunt Zelda at King's Cross, but the elderly woman had been whisked away by her ward before there had been time for proper introductions. The other woman had looked so wealthy and elegant, Molly began to wonder about what kind of opulence surrounded Darcie at home. Arthur was reading a report on a rash of shrinking keys, Ron was playing with Scabbers (Percy was going to receive an owl for having been made a prefect), and Ginny was flipping through Ron's (once Charlie's) copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ looking at the pictures. Charlie was getting accustomed to the new wand he had purchased for himself as the core was poking out from his old one (now also Ron's) and he needed a good wand when dealing with creatures as ferocious as dragons. Suddenly, Darcie and her trunk were climbing out of the fireplace.

"Hello everyone," she beamed at them as she brushed soot from her travelling cloak.

"Darcie's here!" Fred shouted and he and George squished her in a hug between them.

"Darcie, it's wonderful to see you again," Mrs. Weasley rescued her from the twins.

"Thank you so much for inviting me," Darcie hugged her and shook hands with Mr. Weasley.

"Darcie," Percy approached her with his chest puffed out and Charlie could see the prefect's badge pinned there.

"You were chosen? I mean, of course you were. Congratulations!" Darcie hugged him. "Hi, Ron, Ginny."

"Hi, Darcie!" Ginny smiled back and Ron nodded.

"Charlie?" Darcie looked around for him.

"Hello!" Charlie grabbed her round the waist and twirled her. "I'm glad to see you haven't expired from boredom. I can tell how dull life is for you by how short your letters are."

"I wrote you five inches!" She exclaimed.

"Two weeks ago your were at one _foot_ five inches," he told her. "Darcie, you grew again!"

"Yes, I'm measured at five foot seven," she looked embarrassed.

"I'm five foot eight," Percy said and moved to stand next to her.

"We're five foot five!" George grumbled.

"So, Percy, when did you get the letter?" Darcie inquired. "I'm so proud of you."

"Hogwarts letters got here yesterday," he replied.

"We all knew it was coming," pointed out Fred. "If Charlie was a prefect, Percy was a shoo in."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charlie feigned indignation.

"It means you were a surprise pick for prefect," Ginny piped up, no one had realized she was still there and Darcie jumped in surprise.

"How have you been, Ginny?" Darcie sat cross-legged on the floor next to her. "It's been a while since I last saw you."

"I'm well, thanks," Ginny smiled. "I really liked the letters you sent me this year."

"You're welcome. I have very few girlfriends and I thought you might be in the same boat. I appreciated the responses you sent me. I can't wait to have you at Hogwarts next year."

"Me neither," Ginny pouted. "I want to go so badly. I'll be here alone with Mum and Dad, I wish I could go with Ron and start a year early. I could be done a year early like you."

"You don't want to be done a year early the way Darcie's doing it, though," George knelt down next to his sister. "Do you know she took fourteen classes this year _and_ last year?"

"Fourteen? Are you mad?" Ron asked from the corner. He was bored of Scabbers who had bitten him rather hard on his nose.

"I think I must be," she laughed. "I'm taking fewer courses this year."

"So she can do some of her OWLs," Fred added.

"You're going to be writing your OWLs this year, Darcie?" Mr. Weasley had finished his report and was listening to the conversation.

"Just a couple of them," she turned pink.

"That's very impressive," he nodded thoughtfully. "Did Charlie tell you about his NEWTs?"

"No! Charlie, I assumed you wanted to wait until I was here to tell me how you did, but now I'm here and I want to know," she bounced up from the floor and sat on the arm of the chair in which he was seated.

"Well, I got all five NEWTs. Outstanding in Care of Magical Creatures and Charms and Exceeds Expectations in everything else," he had to admit he was impressed with himself.

"That's terrific!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. "You needed O in only Care of Magical Creatures and an E in Charms, right?"

"Yeah, but an O in Charms was highly recommended. Just in case," he waggled his eyebrows.

"Well, you did achieve an O, so you should be fine," she sounded hesitant.

"I _will_ be fine," he promised and tapped her nose. "I'm going to go help Mum with lunch."

"That's a good idea," Mr. Weasley nodded.

"Hey, Mum, what can I do to be of assistance?" Charlie asked her as soon as he entered the kitchen. "Give me any task."

"You can peel the corn," she instructed.

"Sure thing," he nodded. "Mum, Darcie's okay to stay in my room again."

"Charlie, I'm still not sure that it's appropriate for you two to share a room, but it would make things easier…" she trailed off as she bent over to take rolls out of the oven.

"Nothing bad happened last time," he reminded. "And I can go over all the reasons she slept in Bill's bed."

"No, no, I can figure it out for myself," she waved the topic away with her hand. "How's that corn coming?"

"It's done," Charlie shot out of his seat. "I'm going to go take Darcie's stuff upstairs."

"Thanks for your help," Molly said wryly.

Charlie and his brothers helped take Darcie's possessions to his bedroom before they were all called down to lunch by Darcie who had been assisting Mrs. Weasley in Charlie's place. Arthur had brought in chairs from around the home and squished them around the table, it was a tight fit, but cozy. Charlie sat across from Darcie who was sandwiched between the twins, but it Ginny, next to Charlie, who dominated much of Darcie's attention during the meal.

"Mum, can Darcie sleep in my room this time?" Ginny asked as they all tucked into their lemon ice wedges.

"Ginny, your room is small," Charlie jumped in hastily. "Besides, the bed and Darcie's trunk are already in my room."

"And, Ginny, we'll see each other during the day. You'd get tired of me and then you would be stuck with me," Darcie added.

"Fine," Ginny tossed her hair and sighed.

"Mrs. Weasley, I did you a disservice," Darcie began. "Somehow I forgot how amazing your cooking is."

"You're quite the flatterer today," George accused. "Who are you and what have you done with our shy friend?"

"I'm not some Changeling, I promise! I am simply happy to be here with my friends the Weasleys," she enthused.

"Well, we're always happy to have you," Molly patted the girl's hand.

Charlie spent the rest of the day with Darcie and his family as she told them the few stories she had collected over the summer and then the brothers regaled her with their activities in the first few weeks of the holidays. Percy kept saying how glad he was that Darcie would be able to be there for his birthday and the twins could hardly control their voices when it was (and sometimes even when it was not) their turn to speak—they ended up shouting a lot. Ginny fell asleep in the middle of the conversation, about ten at night, and it was agreed that it was bedtime.

"You seemed very keen to have me sleep here during my visit," Darcie observed when she and Charlie were in his room preparing for a few more hours of conversation.

"This is when I get to keep you all to myself," he wrapped her in a bear hug. "Now, how are you doing with your nightmares?"

"They're fine," she said quickly.

"Darcie," he urged, "you know you can tell me anything."

"They're less frequent, but they're still terrifying," she confessed, hugging her knees to her chest and frowning. "There's still the man with pale white skin and blood red eyes, but there's a boy in some of them. I'm worried about that boy, Charlie."

"Do you know who he is? Have you met him?"

"No. He looks familiar, but I have no idea who he is."

"These are just dreams, Darcie. For right now, all you know is they feel like different dreams, but none of the things you've seen has come to pass. Until something happens, you can't let them run and ruin your life," he tilted her face upwards to look her in the eyes. "I am here for you and while you're close to me, I will protect you."

"Thanks, Charlie," she smiled reluctantly.

"What are you going to do without me at Hogwarts next year?" He was teasing, but her face took on a serious expression once again.

"I'm not sure," she worried her bottom lip.

"Buck up," he swatted her leg lightly. "There's post every day. I will write you and you can write me in return. I don't want to hear from anyone that you're moping around in my absence. You have friends in your Year and you will always have the twins and Lee."

"I know, but I will miss you," she told him earnestly.

"And, of course, I'm going to miss you," he put his arm around her shoulders.

It was the perfect time for Charlie to reveal his feelings, to kiss her, to do something; then she stood up and stretched. The moment was lost and he wanted to bury his head in a pillow and scream, but he just smiled at her and reclined on the bed. She did a small spin in the air, landed gracefully, and sat down on the bed next to him.

"You have so much energy today," he yawned.

"I can't help it—I just love to be here with my favourite family," she grinned. "If you were somewhere you felt as free as I do here, you would have this much energy, too."

"Well, if you don't mind, I _am_ tired so I think I'll get ready for bed."

"Let me go brush my teeth first," she requested and flitted out the door.

Charlie was confused, the extra energy was not characteristic of Darcie and it was oddly endearing in his opinion. Darcie returned from the bathroom and Charlie, who had changed into his pyjamas, went to brush his teeth. When he was back in the bedroom, he saw Darcie was in his bed.

"What's going on here?" Charlie demanded, joking.

"I just thought…" she looked a little scared.

"It's fine," he laughed. "I'd have been offended if you were in Bill's bed."

"Oh, good," she smiled.

The next morning, Darcie was not in Charlie's bed or even in the room when he awakened from his deep sleep. He dressed and went to find her. In the kitchen, Darcie was flipping pancakes on the stove while Mrs. Weasley made toast. Both smiled at Charlie as he entered.

"Good morning, Charlie!" Darcie waved at him before turning her attention back to the food she was making.

"Well, I can't just stand here while you two slave away. Ladies, how can I be of service?"

"I suppose he could slice fruit for on top of the pancakes," Darcie suggested.

"What a great idea. You know, Charlie, I came down here to start breakfast and Darcie was ahead of me," Molly squeezed the girl to her body.

"I couldn't be the first person awake and not prepare _something_ for people to eat. Should I have asked before I started cooking?" Darcie looked at Molly.

"Of course not, dear. Our house is your house while you're here," Mrs. Weasley assured her. "Charlie, how is the fruit coming?"

"It's coming," he called.

"We are out of pancake batter. I think I'll start on the bacon," Darcie announced.

"I'm going to go wake the rest of the family. It is time for them to be awake," Molly decided.

"I hear Darcie cooked breakfast," George spoke very loudly as he came down the stairs.

"It's much too early to be talking at such a volume, George," Percy groaned.

~:+:~

Fred was extremely happy Darcie was at the Burrow for her visit—it had been far too long since they had seen each other. She had sent a few letter after term had ended, but nothing could compare with actually being able to see her every day. She and George had a secret, though, and it was killing him not knowing what it was. He knew they had a secret because things had changed between Darcie and his twin sometime in March. It seemed as though they had become cloaser and he would have staked money on George no longer being in love with her.

"George, what are you hiding from me?" Fred had demanded the night before.

"What do you mean?" George had seemed to genuinely not understand.

"You and Darcie have a secret!" Fred exclaimed. "I understand your not telling Lee, but I'm your twin and we're supposed to tell each other everything!"

"I completely forgot," George claimed. "I promised not to tell, but I don't know details so I'm sure if I told you she wouldn't mind."

"Good."

"Darcie's in love," George had said it like there was nothing to it.

"She's in _love_?" Fred was baffled. "With who?"

"Wouldn't tell," George had just shaken his head. "That's why I told you."

So Fred was in on the secret Darcie and George shared, but his curiosity was nowhere near satisfied. He needed to know _who_ Darcie loved. George was not as interested in discovering the object of their friend's affections and fell asleep while Fred was thinking about possible candidates.

The first order of business on Fred's agenda the next morning was for him and George to get Darcie alone. That proved easier said than done because the girl had a personal Weasley entourage. Eventually, though, excitement over Darcie's arrival died down and the twins were able to pull her away from their siblings with only a few protests.

"I missed you two!" Darcie hugged them at the same time.

"We missed you," George hugged her back.

"Enough small talk. Darcie what is going on between you two?" Fred did not want to get George into trouble with her.

"Going on between me and whom?" Darcie looked lost.

"You and George. I think you two are keeping a secret from me and it's very hurtful." Well, it was not actually hurtful, just frustrating, but he knew that would tug at her heart.

"A secret?" Her face clouded with confusion.

"How 'bout what we discussed in March," George prodded. "When we talked…"

"Can I tell him the whole story?" Comprehension cleared her expression.

"Fred, you know I fancied Darcie for a long time, so I told her how I felt," George admitted and would not meet his twin's eye.

"And I told George that I love him as a friend," Darcie finished. "But I love you, too!"

"That's it?" Fred was getting a little offended that he was not hearing the whole story."

"There _was_ more Darcie," George reminded and quailed slightly under her icy stare.

"You're just a regular Sherlock Holmes, hmmm?" Darcie asked Fred. "He's a Muggle author's pet character—a detective."

"Well?" Fred urged.

"I said I couldn't be with George because I only loved him as a friend, but also because I'm in love with someone else," she mumbled.

"Who?" Fred pounced on the admission.

"That I will not say," she set her mouth in a straight line.

"Why?" Fred asked. "We won't say anything!"

"That's what George said last time. Oh, don't try to pretend you didn't already tell all of this to Fred last night," she ordered George.

"Just promise it's not Oliver Wood again," Fred begged.

"That's what _I_ asked!" George chuckled.

"We don't need you compromising our Quidditch captain," he concluded.

"You sound like Charlie," she laughed. "No, it is most certainly _not_ Oliver. We're done for good. Next time you have a question about me, come to me."

"I will," he nodded.

"Good. Now let's get back to everybody else," Darcie led the boys back to the others.

~:+:~

The next three, sunny, days zoomed past in a haze of chatter, fun activities, and long hours outside in the grass or on broomsticks. Ron wanted to talk nonstop about Hogwarts, Fred and George wanted to monopolize Darcie's time, and Percy was taking his new role as prefect a little too seriously—and mentioned it at every moment. Charlie felt like a fish out of water because, while he was familiar with Hogwarts, there was no Hogwarts in his future; his future was in Romania which made everyone very happy for him, but none of his brothers could relate. Darcie, however tried to talk to him about it. The only problem was she tried to discuss it with him in Romanian.

Darcie's fifth night, Charlie was trying to cram as much of the new language into his brain as he could before he had to leave in a week and a half. She was working on schoolwork that Zelda would not hear about in her house because she felt some areas of magic were not worth her great niece's time compared to other subjects. They were happy to sit and study in silence, and Charlie was glad to just be with his young friend.

"Charlie, I need some help," Darcie looked over at him from the bed that was usually Bill's, but designated as hers.

"What is it?" Charlie responded warily.

"I need a hand—your hand," she batted her eyelashes. "Divination assignment."

"Just my hand?"

"Just your hand."

Charlie moved onto the other bed and sat down next to the girl. He could smell her shampoo when they were this close together and it was hard to resist putting his nose right in her hair and taking a whiff. She took his wand hand in hers and scrutinized it.

"You have an Earth hand, Charlie," she informed him.

"I thought I washed it!" He joked and she giggled appreciatively.

"It means you're practical, dependable, and strong. Now, this is your headline," she traced it softly. "Do you see how it's touching this other line—your lifeline—that means you've a prudent and moderate. You also have a triangle on the line which means you are especially courageous."

"You _do_ need guts to work with dragons," he agreed, proudly. "You say this is the lifeline? What does mine say about me?"

"Your lifeline...ends on the Mount of the Moon which means long-distance travel (Romania), and a branch up to the Mount of Jupiter indicating self confidence and self assurance. You've got a square which says you'll overcome threats to your life," her eyes widened in distress.

"I'm betting it's just dragons I need to worry about," he assured. "Now, tell me what my love line says."

"It's called your heart line, Charlie," she chided.

"Well, tell me about mine," he urged.

"Yours starts between the fingers of Saturn and Jupiter with a branch to the line of fate which tells me that you will have a romance that involves friendship and romance," her voice took on a breathy quality.

Hearing that spurred Charlie onwards, he leaned over and brushed his lips against hers in a tentative first official kiss.

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So, I have a little bit of a block. I don't want to write something okay. This is a momentous occasion and what follows it cannot be something that could be thrown aside. I've gone through a bit of spree—motivated by my problems with my account. I am so sad. By the time this is posted, the whole thing will be moot because it'll be fixed.


	16. Chapter 16

I'm really sorry about the delay. I truly didn't mean to leave the cliff hanger for more than a week, but I've been sick and super busy, so this story has had to take a backseat to the rest of my life. Enjoy and please r/r!

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"Oh," Darcie breathed as they pulled apart.

"What does that mean?" Charlie's heart sank to his toes. "What does "oh" mean? Is it bad?"

"It was a surprised utterance," she explained. "Will you do it again?"

Charlie's heart returned to his chest as he eagerly moved in to kiss her again, but it was somehow also pounding in his ears. Time seemed to stop when he kissed Darcie and she kissed him in return. When they separated for the second time, they stared at each other, grinning broadly. He took her hands in his before he spoke.

"Since I met you, I felt like we clicked. Am I the only one who felt that way?" She nodded and shook her head. "There were those times when we were together that felt totally right. I want that all the time. All I think about when I'm anywhere is you. I can be down the table from you and I just want to know what you're thinking."

"I think you're absolutely wonderful, Charlie. You're smart and good at sports and very attractive." She looked up at him with lowered eyes. "But I'm so much younger than you are."

"I don't care." He dipped in and kissed her, as lightly as a feather, on the lips. She shivered and he put his arms around her to support her. "Do you?"

"No," was all she seemed able to say. She shook her head as if to physically clear it. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

"Can't have been much longer than I have." He grinned. he knew the only thing keeping him on the bed was the touch of her hands, cold unlike her face.

"You stumbled into my car and I knew. I just never thought…I mean I'm thirteen years old…you had a girlfriend…" She explained her fears.

"I stumbled into your car and I fell for you. I didn't know it at the time, but Arielle had fogged my brain. Last year, though, I fell head over heels," he shrugged.

"What wonderful timing we have, it's one of the last days you'll be in the country," she allowed him to put his arm around her shoulders and pull her to him.

They kissed for ages and Charlie never wanted it to come to an end. He clutched Darcie's tiny body to his chest, keeping her as close as possible. She kept her arms draped around his neck, but held him almost as tightly as he held her.

"Charlie," Darcie pulling out of their kiss and speaking brought him crashing back to reality. "I think it's probably time for us to sleep."

"What?" His brain was still coming to terms with what was happening.

"Charlie, it's almost three thirty in the morning," she extricated herself from his embrace.

"It is?" Monosyllabic words seemed to be all he could manage.

"I'll go to the loo first, shall I?" She grabbed her toothbrush and toiletries and fairly flew out of the bedroom.

Only once Darcie left the room did Charlie begin to question her strange behaviour—he thought she was happy to kiss him at first, but now she was acting like she wanted to be in any room not occupied by him. These thoughts kept him so busy he almost forgot to don his pyjamas before she knocked on the door. When they traded places, she barely looked at him; and when he returned from the bathroom she was in Bill's bed, not his.

"Darcie?" He gave her a confused look. "Why are you over there?"

"This is my designated bed," she explained.

"Darcie, you've never spent a full night in that bed. What's going on?" He demanded.

"Everything's different now," she focused her gaze on the duvet. "Before we could just be regular, but now…"

"We can't share a bed because our feelings are out in the open?" A shy nod was her response. "Come on," he sat on her bed and tilted her chin so she would look at him. "I have never forced you into doing anything that would make you uncomfortable. I wouldn't. This doesn't change that. Just because you and I kiss or feel a certain way, it doesn't mean I'm all of a sudden going to take advantage of you."

"I know. It's not what you'll do that makes me pause. It's a mixture of everything. How you feel, how I feel, actions, inactions," she smiled.

"You know it's entirely your decision," he told her earnestly. "You have my word I'll do nothing but kiss you good night—on the cheek if you like."

"Okay," she nodded and took his hand. He kissed the back of her hand and went to his bed.

Charlie had felt so excited when Darcie returned his kisses, but having to climb into his bed alone put a damper on his spirits. It made sense, when he thought about it, that they should now sleep in separate beds, but it still stung a bit that she would worry about sharing a bed. He was not a crazy sex fiend, having made love only once (to Arielle) and he had hardly enjoyed it (he had kept wondering where she had learned all of the tricks she was using, and from whom). His spirits were brightened, however, when Darcie did climb under his covers near dawn the next morning. Yes her face was wet with tears from a nightmare, but she was next to him, holding him, trusting him, and she kissed him. He was glad that they could share their friendship and this new component to the relationship…so far.

There was a lot of kissing that morning, but it all had to be done on the sly because they had agreed that the new step in their relationship should be kept under wraps at least until they had figured out how it was going to work for them. It was difficult for Charlie to keep his distance from Darcie given their new bond, but he was grateful their friendship had been a close one, so hugs and holding hands went unnoticed. She seemed more dedicated to keeping up the façade of their relationship being the same as it always was, but Charlie was bursting with joy and wanted to shout his feelings from the rooftops.

"Darcie, we're going to go see Lee, come on," Fred announced after lunch.

Charlie recoiled from the idea of losing sight of and contact with Darcie, but he knew his twin brothers (sharp as whips)would guess something was up if he protested. Darcie shot him an apologetic look before grinning at Fred and George, "I'm on your heels."

~:+:~

George consciously registered no changes in the relationship between Charlie and Darcie, they seemed exactly the same to him. He knew his family could keep Darcie to themselves for only so long before he and Fred had to go over to Lee's house with her. Fred was the one who suggested it and Darcie seemed happy to go along for the journey. That morning they had sent an owl to Lee and they had received a prompt response; instead of walking there, they were going to use Floo powder to travel.

"Ladies first," George bowed Darcie to the fireplace after they had finished lunch.

"Why, thank you," she dropped into a little curtsy.

When George arrived at the Jordan home, last because Fred had jumped in first, Lee's arm was around Darcie's shoulder and Fred had already made himself comfortable. George kicked all the soot off his trainers and back into the fireplace before he climbed into the sitting room and shook hands with Lee. The four young teens all grinned at each other before tearing outside.

"I can't believe how long you've been at the Burrow without coming to see me!" Lee crossed his arms, feigning an accusatory tone.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy catching up with Ron and Ginny, but you were one hundred percent my next stop!" Darcie looked sincerely apologetic and Lee's fake anger dissipated.

"I know that," he socked her lightly on the shoulder. "I was just taking the piss. So, what are we going to get up to today?"

"Whatever your heart desires. Today I am at your disposal," Darcie exclaimed, George nodded, and Fred shrugged.

"Great, because Dad said there may be giant tarantulas around here—there have been rumours—and he says if I can catch one, I can keep it!" Lee was excited.

"Oh, ick," Darcie grimaced. "I suppose I did say I'm at your disposal. Let's search."

George had to agree with Darcie—the idea of looking for giant tarantulas was disgusting—but finding on might actually be pretty neat. They spent most of the visit looking under bushes, but no one was successful and Lee was very disheartened by the time his mother called them in to wash up for tea. The meal was good (nothing compared to what Mrs. Weasley had likely made for the family that evening) and Lee was significantly cheered just in time to be upset about their return to the Burrow.

"Bye, guys," he shook hands with the twins and permitted Darcie to kiss his cheek and hug him tightly round the neck.

"We'll see you at the going away party, right?" Darcie wondered.

"Sure," Lee nodded and waved as each person went to disappear in bright flames from his family's fireplace.

George left first and he startled his father, who was reading on the couch, but George, too, had a shock when Darcie followed behind him while he was still standing in the fire. They were untangling limbs when Fred appeared and smacked his head against Darcie's. She screamed in surprise and pain, summoning much of the family. Charlie extricated her from the pile and held her close while she rubbed her head.

"George, I'm so sorry I came so quickly. Why were you still in the fire, though?" She wondered, curled in Charlie's arms.

"I scared Dad and I was trying to apologize, I didn't remember I was still in the fire," George explained. "How's your head?"

"She'll be fine," Charlie broke in, stroking her hair.

"No thanks to me," Fred added. "I'm really sorry, Darcie."

"Not a problem," she shook her head, but winced. "Well, a slight problem, but nothing I can't survive. Charlie, stop fussing!"

"Sorry," he pulled away.

"And on _that_ exciting note," Mrs. Weasley wrung her hands, "I believe it is time for bed."

~:+:~

There was reconciliation that night in Charlie's bedroom. He was hurt at how Darcie had reacted to his ministrations over her bump to the head and she told him that he had overreacted, but she had spoken sharply. Much snogging ensued and it was a few hours after Mrs. Weasley had suggested bed that Darcie and Charlie actually fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

The days until Percy's birthday flew by for Charlie in a whirl of secret kisses tempered with their usual late-night chats, activities where he tried to spend as much time with Darcie as possible before they were to be ripped apart by fate, and intrusions by his younger siblings on his private times with his new girlfriend. Darcie cared for him and that was what mattered, but she seemed reticent to say anything about it to anyone and it was driving Charlie mad. He discussed it with her the night before Percy's party.

"What would be the travesty of people knowing how we feel about each other?" Charlie demanded while Darcie read beside him in bed.

"Again? You want to talk about this again?" Darcie sighed.

"You give terrible answers," he accused.

"Charlie, it would just be awkward! People (like your parents) would either disapprove because of our ages or (your brothers) would take the mickey out of us for eternity. They'd make me sleep in Ginny's room," she finished.

"But when can we tell people?" He persisted.

"Eventually," she replied evasively and returned to her book.

"Always eventually," he grumbled good-naturedly. "How do I know other boys won't make declarations of love to you while I'm biding my time?"

"Does it matter what other boys do? I can hold my own," she reminded. "Besides, there have been two declarations of love in my life and I would like you to note not one of them was from you."

"What?" That caught his attention and enflamed his temper. "Two declarations of love? But you only dated Oliver Wood? Who else?"

"I'll not say," she shook her head.

"And the idea that I haven't made a declaration of love," he snorted.

"Well, not really. There was your reason for kissing me the very first time, but there was no mention of actual love. And you've said you love me, but only as a friend," she explained.

"Oh," he was stumped. He felt like he loved her, but was he ready to say it? It was a statement one could never recant without seeming an ass.

"Charlie, I'm not looking for you to tell me you're in love with me," she kissed him on the cheek. "In fact, it might be premature. But I'll always love you as a friend and have fond memories of you."

He knew the sentiment was supposed to placate him and calm him, but it just stirred up more confusion in him and he had nothing to say. Darcie turned over and fell asleep moments later, soon her rhythmic breathing was all he could hear, however, he could not relax enough himself to find rest. Something was needed in their relationship and he had to determine what it was in the next two days or who knew what would happen when he went to Romania and she returned to Hogwarts.

Percy was prancing around like a peacock the next day, wearing a smug look and his new prefect's badge. Every Weasley but Molly and Arthur was sick of seeing him sporting it and even Darcie's smile was beginning to looked tacked on when Percy would talk about his plans for being a prefect and one day Head Boy. It was his birthday, though so everyone was polite to him (even the twins and Charlie suspected that was imposed by Darcie) and looked thrilled to hear him ramble on once more about who he believed would be made prefects from the other Houses.

"You know, I never thought Oliver Wood would be made a prefect. I know you thought highly of him, Darcie, but when you compare his record to mine, well, there's hardly any comparison at all," Percy exclaimed.

"And he's Quidditch Captain, Perce," Charlie reminded.

"I never doubted you would be the one," chimed in Darcie. "What's on the agenda for today, Percy? I think you should pick our first activity at least."

"It's going to be a scorcher today," Mrs. Weasley supplied.

"Perhaps we should go to the lake like Darcie suggested last summer," Ginny suggested.

"No," Percy shook his head. "I think it would be best if we made good use of still having Darcie and Charlie and finished all of our assignments. Just kidding, just kidding, the lake is a splendid idea."

"You had us going," George's good humour sounded forced to Charlie.

After an enjoyable few hours in the lake, Percy, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Darcie, and Ginny trudged reluctantly back to the Burrow so the latter five could help Mrs. Weasley prepare for the feast that evening. Percy was, of course, exempt and he requested Darcie's company which was fine because the girl had forced her help on his mother. Charlie missed his young friend, but he knew Percy was to be kept in good spirits because it was his birthday.

"Ah, wonderful spread, Molly," Arthur exclaimed as he sat down at the head of the table once he returned from work. "Happy birthday, Percy."

"Thank you, Father," Percy sombrely nodded at him.

"Percy, it's your birthday, smile a little," Darcie ordered and he bestowed a genuine smile on her. "Much better. Now, we should all eat so you can open your gifts."

"Great idea, Darcie," George grinned at her, he had been eyeing the food eagerly.

"Tuck in, everyone," Percy invited moments later.

It was the best meal Mrs. Weasley had cooked in ages—not that she had been cooking unsatisfactory meals—in Charlie's opinion. He knew this meal was a congratulatory as well as birthday meal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been prefects and Charlie and Bill had been prefects so it was very exciting to have another prefect in the family. Charlie wondered what would happen in a couple of years when people from Fred and George's Year were chosen for prefects. Only one of them _could_ be picked, although the odds of either being selected were extremely long in Charlie's eyes.

Dinner and the setup outside had to be tidied up immediately after Percy had opened all of his presents because if anything was left behind it fell prey to the garden gnomes. Years before when Ginny had contracted the chicken pox from a Muggle child (no one was sure how it had happened and Mr. Weasley always changed the subject rather quickly when the topic came up), they had decided it would be fine to leave some things outside just over night. That was a gross miscalculation as everyone witnessed in the morning: The gnomes had ripped everything into pieces and scattered the debris around the garden.

Mrs. Weasley had fumed at Mr. Weasley all day because she had "always told him the gnomes were pests, not pets" and he, meekly, had to agree with her. His agreeing with her probably saved the homes of all the little buggers because she left Arthur in peace to piece back together all the furniture. Charlie and Bill had then been delegated the task of de-gnoming the garden which had been fun at that age…now it seemed a lengthy and thankless duty.

The following day was, luckily, not filled with picking up needle-sized pieces of table or chairs, but it was full of worry for Charlie. He had no idea what to say to Darcie that night, their last night together before she went home and he went off to study dragons. What could he offer her? She spent most of the day in Fred and George's bedroom and Charlie's mind was up there with them uninvited. When it was time for bed, Charlie reluctantly joined Darcie in the room they shared.

"Charlie, is everything all right?" Darcie wondered as they sat in his bed, each with a nose in a book. "You haven't kissed me in hours. Have I done something wrong?"

"No," he replied quickly.

"Something's amiss with you," she pressed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Charlie, I know you very well. I know when something's up, now tell me," she crossed her arms.

"I just don't know what to do," he confessed. "I want to be with you, but tomorrow I'm off to Romania and you'll be going home and then back to Hogwarts. I don't know how this will work."

"Charlie, you know you have my heart, right?" She waited for him to nod. "But you're also my friend and I don't want to stop you from experiencing anything when I cannot give you what we want."

Her words were confusing. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that because I'm so young (and you're young, too), that I don't want you to feel tied to me because I have a crush on you," she explained.

"What?"

"Charlie, I want you to be able to date if you want while you're in Romania. I don't want you to think you have some duty to be true to me because we kissed a little this summer," she elaborated. "I'm going to write to you, but please don't feel like you owe me anything because I fancy you."

"But I don't want that," he found the words spilling out of him now. "Darcie, I want you to be my girlfriend. I won't feel tied to you out of duty, I'll be connected to you because of my feelings."

"You say that now," her calmness and rational approach were irritating, "but what if you meet someone out there you really fancy? You'll want to take her out on a date, but you won't be able to because you have a thirteen year old girlfriend miles and miles away."

"I don't intend to meet someone else," he protested.

"Things don't always happen the way we intend," she told him kindly. "Will you kiss me now?"

"I don't know if I can," he knew he was sulking, but it could not be helped.

"Charlie, please," she moved her face close to his and he could not stop himself from kissing her.

"Temptress," he accused and she smiled against his lips.

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So there we have it. Darcie and Charlie have come to a conclusion about their relationship for the near future, but this is not a conclusion to their story. The next few chapters will be in a somewhat different format from previous chapters, but hopefully that will work out fine.


	17. Chapter 17

New chapter! Please r/r. Enjoy!

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The morning Charlie and Darcie were supposed to leave the Burrow, he had awoken in a fog of unhappiness and confusion. He simply could not understand what Darcie had proposed the night before; he had been hoping for a promise of love and fidelity, but she had wanted them to have freedom. When Darcie woke she had seemed no different and had even initiated a kissing session that had lasted almost half an hour. It failed to buoy his sinking spirits.

Everyone had acted normally except the twins who moped around because Darcie was leaving and Ginny who had not let Charlie out of her sights. They had had a party and Lee had come to say farewell to both of the departing parties. Finally, the time had come for Charlie to leave for Romania and he had noticed something was amiss with Darcie—she kept rubbing at her eyes.

"Darcie," he had said, "can you help me find my quills, I couldn't find them last night and forgot until just now."

"Sure," her voice had sounded odd, strained.

"Come on, Darcie. What's the matter?" He had made her sit down on the bed they had shared for two summers and put his arm around her.

"You have no idea how much I'm going to miss you," she had held herself ramrod straight. "I love you, Charlie."

"You know I love you, too," he had tried to be kind, but talking about their friendship while she was pushing away their romantic feelings was not something Charlie had wanted to discuss.

"No, Charlie, I'm in love with you," she had persisted. "Which is why I want you to be able to have your space in Romania."

"That doesn't make any sense. If you love me, why can't we be together?"

"Because we're young and I don't want you to feel tied to me," she had sounded like she had been rehearsing this, something Charlie had missed when she first said it.

"We need a compromise," Charlie had decided. "Why don't we keep ourselves open to other people, but still feel this way about each other? I know a few miles isn't going to change my feelings for you. We'll re-evaluate next summer when you come to visit me."

"I'm coming to visit you?" Her eyes had been full of tears as she looked up at him.

"You had best come visit me!" He had kissed her passionately, trying to put all his emotions into that kiss. "And, Darcie, I love you, too."

So Charlie and Darcie had quitted the Burrow for their respective destinations and now Charlie was in Romania to pursue his lifelong passion of studying dragons. The dragon sanctuary was an incredible place and despite his low mood, Charlie was excited to be there after all his dreams of this day. There were nine other students in Charlie's group, totalling six guys and four girls, and Charlie knew they were all as inspired by this opportunity as he was. Only fifty candidates from the entire world were accepted each year for the two year intensive training programme and of those fifty students, only a handful would be offered positions to continue on as employees.

Part of Charlie's scholarship included residence in a small flatlet near to the sanctuary it had a lavatory, a tiny kitchen/sitting room/dining room area, and a small bedroom and was sparsely furnished. Much of the training he would receive was practical and hands-on, but there was some classroom work expected of the students so Charlie had to acquire some textbooks which were actually waiting for him on the table in his flat when he arrived. They were obviously second-hand, but he flipped through to make certain all the pages were there and he was satisfied.

The apartment allocated for Charlie's use was in a building owned by the sanctuary specifically for use of housing those people studying dragons there. There were five other units in the complex and the flats were occupied by Charlie's peers. An hour or so after Charlie entered his domain there was a knock at the door.

"Hello?" Charlie recognized two boys from his group.

"Hey, Charlie, right?" One of the boys grinned at Charlie. This guy had light blonde hair that grew past his ears, bright blue eyes, and an unidentifiable accent. The other had shaved his head, but his eyebrows were brown and so were his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, your names escape me at the moment," he smiled apologetically and let the boys into his home.

"I'm Davey," the bald boy had an accent Charlie was fairly certain was American.

"And I'm Alec," the blonde boy shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you," it was not a lie, but Charlie had been looking forward to sitting down and dashing off a note to Darcie.

"You're British, huh?" Davey asked. "Me, I'm from Texas and Alec here is from Finland. You take a look at some of the girls in our class?"

"The redheaded one is very pretty," Alec exclaimed.

"Yeah," Charlie was there to study dragons not girls.

"Come on, that one blonde…Melissa…she's a knock out," Davey encouraged. "What, you got a girl back at home, Chuck?"

"Only my brothers call me that and the only reason I don't kill them for it is my Mum would tan me alive," he warned, jokingly. "No, there's a girl, but we're kind of giving each other space."

"Then there is no reason for you to not get an eyeful of these girls," Davey was clearly a talker. "There's a dinner for our group being held in twenty minutes, we thought we should check it out, get some good food before we're left to fend for ourselves."

"Sounds good," Charlie nodded. "Let me change and I'll meet you two outside."

The other teens left his room and Charlie tried to decide what to do: Should he take extra time and write something to Darcie or should he just change? He opted for just changing and promised himself he would write a letter to her after he had eaten. That plan was seconded by a growl from his stomach, so Charlie donned a new, flannel shirt and joined his classmates.

As he ate dinner with his nine new peers, he took in as much information as he could, but there were so many names, faces, places to learn. There was so much to learn about everybody that his promise to himself to write to Darcie was pushed from his mind. In fact, there was so much to do in Romania that for the first fortnight he forgot to write to her.

_Charlie,_

_How are you? How is Romania? Are you making many friends? Are you enjoying your I don't want to sound like some Fwooper with a million annoying questions so I'll wait for your reply in which I'm certain you'll tell me everything that has happened so far. I've returned to Hogwarts and it's certainly not the same without you. It's lonely at night without you to keep me company. I am busy with my studies, but I miss your advice. Percy is already driving me mad with his fretting over OWLs so he and I have decided not to discuss study habits. You may have heard from your brothers that we in Gryffindor have a new famous figure: Harry Potter. He seems like a nice boy and has made friends with Ron. I have yet to meet him, but I'm looking forward to it. We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrel. I don't think much of him (he smells bad!). I keep feeling like I've seen him before, but I don't know where. Also, there's this horrible feeling I get from him. I'm not sure why. I'm probably just moping about, missing you. Then there's the Third Floor corridor that Professor Dumbledore says is off-limits, but won't say why. I hope to hear from you._

_Love,_

_Darcie_

After reading Darcie's letter, Charlie felt like a heel. They were supposed to be friends, and maybe more, but he had completely forgotten about her and writing to her. He immediately sat down to write her a letter in return.

_Darcie,_

_I am really sorry I've not written you yet, but I have been very busy. I have barely had time to write Mum and Dad. It is so exciting to finally be here! I'm learning so much about dragons and I've met a lot of new people. I'm living on my own which is a new experience, but it can be a little lonely spending nights all alone. I just received your letter and I wanted to write something to you, but I do have a class I need to attend. I promise I'll write you more later._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

Charlie rolled up the parchment and tied it to the leg of Darcie's owl before heading off to his first class of the day. It was hard to pay attention to the lessons he attended that day with thoughts of Darcie on his mind, he suddenly felt more homesick for Hogwarts than he had for the Burrow during the entire time he had spent in Romania so far. He wondered about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor whom Darcie did not like, about Ron being friends with the legendary Harry Potter, the off-limits corridor, and even about how Oliver Wood would run the Quidditch team.

The next few weeks Charlie was at the sanctuary were actually a little slow in his opinion because the instructors insisted on going over the very basics of dragons and these were things that Charlie already knew off by heart. He spent much of his free time writing to Darcie or reading the letters she sent to him, but he knew she was busy preparing for her OWLs—he still was not entirely convinced she was ready to take them—and he found himself feeling lonely. Soon enough, however, his classes picked up and he was not brooding over not receiving as many letters from Darcie as he would have liked.

"Charlie," he heard his name as he walked back to his flat. Turning around, he saw a girl from his group of students, Siobhan. "Can I ask you for a hand?"

"I have two of them," he smiled at her. "What can I do to be of assistance?"

"My bed is in a particularly inconvenient position in my apartment. Every morning when the sun rises, it shines directly into my eyes. I'm simply not strong enough to move the thing myself. Help me?" She batted her eyelashes at him.

"Of course," he shrugged and fell into step beside her. "Are you missing your family back in Canada? It seems far from Britain, but it must feel like millions of miles from home for you."

"It does," she nodded sadly. "I do miss my family, but it's so exciting to be here following my passion for dragons."

"I understand," he nodded, too.

"Here we are," they had reached the building where she lived and she let them inside, leading him down the hall. "Can I interest you in a nightcap, Charlie?"

"Um, no, thanks," he shook his head.

"Are you sure? I have some lovely nymph-made wine," she urged.

"No, thank you," he repeated firmly. "I thought we were here to move your bed."

"Well, you are forward," she smiled provocatively. Then she remembered, "oh. You actually meant to move my bed."

"Isn't that what you asked me here to do?" He realized he had been extraordinarily dense.

"You're so cute!" She squealed. "With the accent, and the freckles, and the sweet naiveté!"

"I'm going now," Charlie edged towards the door.

"No, Charlie, stay," she pleaded.

"Siobhan, you're a nice girl, but I think you want something from me that I'm not willing to give," he smiled tightly and shut the door.

Charlie, terrified she would follow, hightailed it to the building where his own flat was and locked the door; he leaned against it, breathing heavily. Siobhan was a beautiful girl and she had thrown herself at him, but all he could think about was Darcie and how this is what she had wanted for him. It turned out, Charlie seemed to be the only one who did not want this for himself, all he wanted was Darcie.

Christmas came and so did his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley squeezed into Charlie's bed, Ginny slept on the couch, and Charlie kipped on the floor. He received beautiful presents from Darcie and gifts from Zonko's from the twins which he assumed Darcie had helped to finance because they were numerous. Letters kept arriving from Darcie to which he always promptly replied, but life was normal until partway into the new year.

It was after Easter when Charlie received a strange message from a strange owl, it was from Ron. Ron had never written to Charlie which was not surprising as he was busy enjoying Hogwarts and Charlie was equally as busy in Romania. However, Ron (and Hagrid) seemed to need his help.

_Charlie,_

_I know you're mates with Hagrid and he needs your help. Somehow he managed to get his hands on a dragon's egg, but someone found out about it and we need to get rid of the dragon. He is a Norwegian Ridgeback and his name is Norbert…Anyway, you're at the Dragon Sanctuary and you could really help us out of a spot of trouble. Can you take it?_

_Cheers,_

_Ron_

"Hagrid," was all Charlie could say between bouts of laughter.

After laughing for a few minutes, he remembered just how much trouble Hagrid could find himself in if anyone knew he had an illegal dragon. It seemed someone _did_ know he had a dragon, however, and since Ron was his brother and Hagrid was his friend, Charlie felt inclined to help them. He wrote two letters and, after giving water to and feeding the beautiful snowy owl, sent one back to Hogwarts and one to River and Arielle who were still together. River, Arielle, and two other friends from his Care of Magical Creatures classes were coming to visit him and he appealed to them to help his brother and Hagrid. Thankfully, his friends agreed to lend a hand.

After waiting on pins and needles for what seemed like a year, it was the day his friends…and the dragon…were due to arrive. All four of his friends were on broomstick and there was a large crate between them, presumably holding the Norwegian Ridgeback, and Charlie, Davey, and Alec were prepared to deal with the creature no matter what size he turned out to be. Charlie greeted everyone with handshakes and hugs, made the introductions, and then he and his fellow dragon-scholars readied themselves to see the dragon.

"Careful, Charlie," Arielle warned, "the kids said he's kind of vicious. We met _Harry Potter_, Charlie!"

"Arielle, we can talk about this later. Right now, the three of us need to concentrate," he shook his head and held out his wand.

"Aw, this is just a baby," Davey exclaimed when they caught sight of the dragon. "Charlie, we were ready for a full-grown Norwegian Ridgeback."

"No one gave me measurements," Charlie retorted.

They managed to pass off the creature to a couple of their instructors and the seven teenagers went back to Charlie's flat. His tiny living quarters felt even smaller with so many people packed in, but the atmosphere was genial and everyone was cheerful. He grabbed some butterbeers from the icebox and passed them round to his friends.

"So you met Harry Potter, huh?" Charlie humoured Arielle's love of gossip.

"Yes! He has the scar and he looks just like the pictures of his dad," she gushed.

"Now, I may not be from Europe, but I've heard of this Volde—" Davey was cut off by hushing noises from everyone around the table.

"Don't say his name," Arielle hissed. "He Who Must Not Be Named will suffice."

"Okay…Well, he might not have made it over to North America, but we've heard of him and he did some pretty scary stuff," Davey continued. "And we've heard of the feat of Harry Potter."

"You weren't too effusive, were you, Arielle?" Charlie wondered.

"Of course not, but the girl with him seemed to want us to hurry along. We didn't see Ron," she added as an afterthought.

"Maybe it only needed the two," Charlie shrugged, but wondered what had happened with his youngest brother.

His friends' visit was fun and they spent time reminiscing about their days at Hogwarts and how they had never been in any situation like Ron, Harry Potter, and their girl friend, Hermione. It was a short visit, only a few days, and then it was time for them to leave. The rest of Charlie's year went by quickly and he kept a close eye on the Norwegian Ridgeback whose name Ron had given as Norbert, but turned out to be a female Ridgeback.

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George had a lot to take in during his Third Year at Hogwarts. Not only was there more homework than he had thought was possible to do, but his little brother was actually best mates with Harry Potter! Harry had turned out to be pretty level-headed despite his fame and had a new claim to glory when people found out he was a wicked Seeker. Being so busy with school and Quidditch left little time for him to pay attention to how Darcie had changed.

She was quieter these days and she always looked a little sad, he assumed it was from all the homework _she_ was assigned for she was taking some OWLs (though George, Fred, and Lee could not fathom why she would do them early) and a great number of classes. He worried, though, when she withdrew into herself and spent very little time with him and the other boys. One day he knew it was time to confront her.

"Darcie, it is almost Christmastime and you haven't looked properly happy since September," he accused one night in the common room. He, Fred, and Lee had decided he would address the topic.

"I'm happy," she gave him a weary smile.

"I don't believe you and I don't think you believe yourself," he declared and sat down next to her in the giant chair. "Also, have you even met Harry Potter? Everyone wanted to shake his hand after he won that first Quidditch game for us and you avoid him like the plague."

"Don't be silly, George," she sighed. "I just haven't had a reason to speak with him."

"Is it Charlie?"

"What?" She looked alarmed and George knew he had struck a nerve.

"I know you and he were mates," he continued. "And he was Seeker. You miss him?"

"Yes," she replied evasively. "But that's not why I steer clear of Harry Potter. My family is full of Dark Wizards who wouldn't like me befriending your family so getting too close to Harry Potter would make me a little unpopular. Auntie's goddaughter, Narcissa, her son is in Ron's Year and the last thing I need is for him to go tattling to my family about my friends."

"Wow, Darcie, I'm sorry," George gave her a hug. "I didn't know how much this affected you. I'll back off."

"Oh, George, I'm sorry, too. I'm just a little wrapped up in my studies and I know I've been neglecting my three closest friends," she waved at Fred and Lee who had been not-so-subtly eavesdropping. "We're all going to Hogsmeade together on Saturday."

"Whatever you want," he promised. "Good night, Darcie."

"Good night, George," she smiled and turned back to her textbook.

For the first time since she had been at Hogwarts, Darcie did not stay at the school for Christmas and George was surprised. He had thought it would be time for her to get to know Harry without being under the watchful eye of Draco Malfoy, but she had told the twins and Lee that Zelda had written her and asked her to come home for Christmas, and she had complied. Percy, Fred, George, and Ron, however, had no one to go home to as their parents were with Charlie in Romania, so they stayed at school.

"George," Darcie pulled him aside one day before the Easter holidays, "I can only visit the Burrow for a week this summer."

"Why?" The highlight of his summer was having Darcie stay.

"Because Auntie doesn't want me to be away from home so much this year."

"So two weeks is too long? Please come for two!" He begged.

"I can't," she frowned. "I'm already taking a two week trip."

"Where?" George could think of nowhere else Darcie had ties.

"I sort of promised Charlie I would visit him," she explained. "So I was wondering if I could come visit at the beginning of the holidays."

"You're going to visit Charlie?" He knew they were friends, but for her to visit Charlie in Romania surprised George.

"Yes, well," she stammered and turned pink. "I was helping him learn Romanian, and he told me I knew the language better than he, and I should come visit him."

"Darcie, what's going on with you?" George looked at her closely and she failed to make eye contact.

"Nothing! I just cant stay long." She turned away from him. "Can I come visit early?"

"I have to write to Mum and Dad, but that should be fine," he nodded and took her hand. "You can talk to me, Darcie. I'm going to listen."

"There's nothing to say," she flashed him a convincing grin. "I have to go to the library, I'm worried about my Divination OWL."

"You shouldn't worry, you'll get an O no doubt," he promised and squeezed her hand.

"Thank you," she pecked him on the cheek and ran off.

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_Dear Charlie,_

_Your Mum and Dad say I can visit early this year. Auntie Zelda thinks I'm visiting your family twice and has told me not to be a nuisance if your parents tire of me. I can't wait to see you in the summer. I hope your exams go well, wish me luck on mine._

_Love,_

_Darcie_

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I know that was a quick year, but the story is supposed to focus on Charlie and Darcie and it's hard when they're in completely separate countries. A chapter for the year and then one for the visit and then just a couple more years before she finishes school. Haven't decided whether or not to do a chapter from her perspective. Any thoughts?


	18. Chapter 18

Thank you to all my readers! I cant remember if I've said that and I know if I have, it's been awhile since I last said it. I always think it, but I'm not one for saying everything I think. Your liking my story really spurs me on. So, once again, thank you so much!

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Darcie was coming to the Burrow and Fred was ecstatic. They had been able to spend little time together over the school year—he privately felt she was trying to distance herself from everyone—and now they would be able to talk candidly. He knew she would be more approachable once she was finished the first wave of her OWLs and she was always easier to be close to at the Burrow because she was not worried about being perfect like at Hogwarts.

Fred worried about Darcie sometimes; what if she got a hernia from lifting heavy books for studying or an ulcer from all the stress she put on herself? It was as though she threw herself into her schoolwork to see just how far she could push her mind and body. She hardly ate, she rarely smiled, and it looked like she never slept. One had to actually confront the girl to make sure she was in reality and had not been sucked into one of her textbooks. George had tried talking to her, but Fred felt dissatisfied with his brother's results, so he resolved to speak with her until she gave him straight answers.

The day she was due to arrive everyone was milling around the house when they heard something tumbling into the drawing room. Fred and George tore down the stairs. Darcie was sitting in an armchair with her hands neatly folded in her lap, smiling.

"Hello, thought I'd make myself at home," she stood up and hugged the twins together.

"You're early!" Fred hugged her in return.

"Surprise," she shrugged. "I didn't want your mum to have too much time to tidy. I don't really care how your house looks as long as it's different from mine."

"Already tired of your place?" George laughed as she looked stern. "You were only home for a week. Old Zelda can't be _that_ bad."

"You'd think a blind woman wouldn't care about how I look, but she does," Darcie rolled her eyes. "She has Lucy tell her everything I'm wearing so she can criticize it."

"Well, you look fine to me," Mrs. Weasley declared as she entered the room and embraced the girl.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley," Darcie beamed at her. "I'm so happy to be here again. Thank you so much for letting me come early in the summer."

"It's no trouble, dear," Mrs. Weasley patted Darcie on the cheek. "Especially when we're accommodating your trip to go see Charlie."

"Yes. Oh, Aunt Zelda says you can send me home whenever you want if I get in the way," she gave a cheeky smile.

"I would never send you home," Mrs. Weasley looked shocked. "You stay as long as you like."

"Is Darcie here?" Percy wandered into the room.

"Hi, Percy," she approached him with an outstretched hand.

"Darcie," he allowed her to give him a hug after shaking his hand.

"So?" She stood back and put her hands on her hips. "How did you do?"

"I did very well, but I won't tell you my marks. Just so you know, though, I received all the OWLs I took. And you?" Fred knew his brother was trying to compare himself to their brainy friend.

"Four Outstanding marks!" She shook her hair.

"And how many OWLs did you take?" Mr. Weasley inquired.

"Four," she smiled.

"Extremely impressive," Mr. Weasley shook her hand. "And I see you're now as tall as Percy. You must be going on six feet."

"I hope not," she shuddered. "I'm as tall as I hope to ever be. You don't come across many fourteen year old girls who are five feet eight."

"You can't be!" George spluttered.

"I can," she crossed her arms. "But I shan't be growing anymore. Auntie Zelda only reached a height of five feet five before she doubled over. If I'm related to her, I can't grow too tall, can I?"

"Charlie's related to Percy and he's only five feet ten inches and he hasn't grown in years whereas Percy is growing out of his clothes at an alarming rate," Mrs. Weasley said half to herself as she arranged throw cushions on the sofa.

"Thank you, Mother," Percy flushed.

That night Fred was sound asleep when he heard a thin wail; it was plaintive and weak, but it scared him to his core. He knew Ginny's scream was loud and to the point and he assumed that Darcie was the source of the noise, so he woke George and they tiptoed down to Charlie's room where Darcie was sleeping. Pushing the door open quietly, they entered the room. Darcie was in Charlie's bed, tossing, turning, and making scared noises.

"Darcie," Fred shook her shoulders.

"No!" She shouted and opened her eyes. "Fred?"

"You were dreaming," George sat at the foot of her bed. "Or having a nightmare."

"It was nothing," her face closed to them.

"Darcie, it is not nothing if we can hear you wailing in our bedroom. You could have woken the whole household," Fred told her sternly. "You've been moping about for a year and now you're having nightmares. It's time to explain."

"Tomorrow, I promise," she kissed them both on the cheek. "Stay here tonight?"

The three fourteen-year-olds pushed the two beds together and huddled in a group—Darcie next to the wall, Fred with his arm around her, and George at the edge. Eventually everyone fell back to sleep and nothing else happened that night. Fred woke the next morning with a terrible crick in his neck from resting his head on Darcie's shoulder.

That day, Fred and George agreed not to press Darcie for her explanation because they knew she would keep her promise and tell them when it was time for the secret of her moodiness to be revealed. No one else seemed to have heard the noises coming from Charlie's bedroom the night before and neither twin wanted to be the one to bring up the occurrence to possibly embarrass their good friend. The day was grey and lazy.

"I need your help, Fred, George," Darcie declared that evening. "Can you help me in Charlie's room?"

"Certainly," Fred hopped to his feet and George did the same.

They followed Darcie to the bedroom where her possessions were, they all took positions on the beds where they had slept the night before. Fred was excited to know the truth, but he held his tongue until Darcie felt she was ready to speak to them. George fiddled with the bedspread.

"I have a secret," she confessed.

"Clearly," Fred uttered dryly.

"Yes, thank you, Fred," she glared at him. "As I was saying…my secret is that I'm in love with Charlie."

"What?" The twins stared at her, mouths agape.

"You can't tell anyone—especially your parents—about this!" She begged. "Please, guys."

"How long has this been? Wait, you said last year at school you were in love with someone. Has it always been Charlie?" George wondered.

"Yes," Darcie nodded.

"We won't tell him," Fred promised.

"Good, he would probably be upset if he knew I told anyone," she replied.

"He knows?" The twists made Fred's head spin.

"Yes, we're together. I think," she smiled.

"Darcie, you're going too fast. You're in love with Charlie, Charlie knows, and what?" George inquired. "Did he shrug you off? Is that why you've been moping?"

"No, Charlie loves me, too," she met their eyes defiantly. "But I did something stupid."

"I doubt that. Darcie, no one's smarter than you," Fred assured.

"I told him I didn't want to hold him back from experiences in Romania, but I'm worried he might meet someone else and that's not what I want ," she groaned.

"Then why did you say it?" George asked.

"Because what if he felt like he had to be faithful to me, but he met the woman of his dreams there?" She frowned?

"Girls," Fred shook his head in amazement.

"Listen, I was just terrified all year that some girl in Romania was going to catch his eye and I was going to lose him!" She explained, her face broke Fred's heart in two.

"It's all right," George took her in a big hug.

"I'm fine," she took a deep breath. "I'm going to visit him and something will happen, right?"

"Of course," Fred agreed.

The rest of Darcie's visit was not nearly as exciting as her first forty-eight hours had been, but Fred made sure she had fun. It was an enjoyable visit for everyone and all the Weasleys were sad to have to say goodbye to Darcie so early in the summer and after such a short stay. They loaded her down with gifts she said she would deliver to Charlie and she disappeared into the kitchen fireplace.

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Charlie was more excited than he could remember ever having been for Darcie was on her way to Romania. It was the first time she was coming to visit him and only him. She was arriving by train to a nearby station and Charlie had Romanian Muggle money that would, hopefully, be enough to hire a Mugglee (what was the word?) tasky to get them to Charlie's humble abode. He had walked to the station early to meet her, but he was so excited and nervous he could not wait inside.

Charlie paced in front the building for almost an hour until just a few minutes before Darcie's train was due to arrive. He finally entered the station and discovered the platform at which he had to wait for his guest to disembark from her train. When it did pull up in front of him, Charlie's heart skipped a beat. It was hard to believe that, after approximately a year, Darcie was able to see where his new life was.

"Charlie!" Darcie's voice caught his attention and he spun round to see her standing behind him. "Hi."

"Darcie," he sighed and took her in his arms. "I've missed you. May I kiss you?"

She nodded and he bent in to kiss her deeply before they pulled apart, both pink. Charlie took her hand in his and they went to get her luggage, he held her fragile hand tightly. Darcie led him to her compartment where they found her trunk; she remarked on the strange looks she and her trunk had received and had even been asked why she had no suitcase.

"And, of course, I have no idea what a suitcase is, so I said it was at the shop which seemed to satisfy the little boy's curiosity," she finished.

"Brilliant, Darcie," he exclaimed as they waved down a tasky.

"You know," she spoke as they motored to Charlie's flat, "these—did you call it a car?—cars could nicely replace the carriages from the station to the school."

"They'd need invisible drivers," Charlie laughed at the idea.

Speaking of invisible cars Charlie retold the tale written to him by Fred and George about how they and Ron had flown to Harry Potter's house in the middle of the night and rescued him which made Darcie shake her head. Everything had to be said quietly because they did not want to risk their driver overhearing anything strange they might say. Darcie was amazed at his brothers' bravery and foolhardiness, but was mollified when she heard of the mistreatment from which they had saved Harry.

They reached Charlie's building and paid the driver with as little trouble as they could manage, and they carried Darcie's trunk up to the flatlet. Then they were alone and there seemed to be nothing to say. This was the moment for which Charlie had been waiting and he once again drew Darcie into his arms, kissing her passionately. It was supposed to be the time for Charlie to be planning, but being back with her had wiped his mind.

He needed a plan, a way to win her. It was necessary that he show her that, quite apart from giving him space and their having no ties, she wanted to be with him. She just had to be with him or Charlie might go mad.

"Dinner?" He went scarlet as his voice cracked.

"Yes, please?" She whispered.

"Luckily, I lived with my mum long enough to pick up a few meal tips," he tapped her nose.

"That's lovely," she replied, eyes flitting over to the tiny kitchen. "You don't have much space, but can I do anything to help?"

"No. Just make yourself comfortable while I whip up something," he waved his hand around the flat. "Don't expect anything like my mother's cooking, but it should fill you."

"I'm famished, anything is welcome," she patted her flat stomach.

It took no time at all to make an acceptable meal for two and they sat down for a quiet dinner, speaking of nothing important. Charlie inquired after Zelda and Darcie informed him that her aunt was as well as could be expected for a woman of her age. They discussed his family, her visit to them and letters they had both received from various members—comparing notes on how well they truly were.

"Darcie," Charlie began when they were cuddled on the couch after the dishes had been cleaned and stowed.

"Yes, Charlie?" She murmured.

"I missed you very much these past few months we've not been together," he continued.

"I've missed you as well," she nestled her head on his shoulder.

"I didn't date anyone," he knew what he wanted and was trying to say, but the words were coming out wrong. "Did you see anyone this year?"

"No," she shook her head.

"Darcie, I don't want to be able to see anyone! I want to have a girlfriend, and I want her to be you. Or you to be her. Whatever," it was said, there was nothing to be done about it.

"Do you mean that?" The fear written on her face was not the response for which he had hoped.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," he nodded, heart feeling like a dead weight.

"I want to say yes," she spoke slowly. "But I'm worried. Charlie, you're a Sagittarius and I'm a Virgo. That may not mean much to you, but to someone who's studied the stars and Divination like I have, it says a lot."

"The stars, Darcie?" He inquired.

"Virgo and Sagittarius are not compatible signs," she explained. "It worries me. Luckily, some people say that a woman should have the same Moon sign as the man's Sun sign, and my Moon sign is Sagittarius."

"I don't give a damn what the stars say, I know what my heart says," he took her hands in his. "I'm in love with you, not your Sun sign or your Moon sign or even whatever sign your Neptune is."

"Oh, Charlie, you're so wonderful!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his face.

"And you're adorable," he kissed her on the lips. "Are we agreed? You are my girlfriend?"

"Of course. I've been faithful to you since we first kissed," she assured.

"I think you've been faithful to me since you ditched Oliver Wood," he laughed.

"Oh, don't remind me!" She hid her face. "I feel terrible whenever I think of or see poor Oliver, even now. I think I did care for him, but I only went with him because I thought I could never have you."

"Well, you have me now," he embraced her. "And you have me as long as you want me."

"Charlie, I've had a long day, I think it's time for me to go to bed," Darcie yawned.

"Of course," he stood up abruptly, she fell over. "I'm so sorry, I forgot you were resting on me. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she laughed and stood as well.

Charlie had seen Darcie asleep alone in a bed and he had seen her asleep in a bed next to him, and it was almost like two different people. Darcie by herself thrashed like a fish out of water, cried, and screamed, but Darcie slumbering beside him was serene, silent and barely moved. When she slept by his side, Charlie liked to watch the slow rise and fall of her chest and the peaceful expression on her beautiful face. In fact, that night, he was so caught up in the feeling of holding her in his arms that he forgot he should get some rest. He had big plans for the next day—he was going to show her off to the friends who were still around for the summer.

Darcie was already awake and making breakfast when Charlie woke in the morning. He greeted her with a kiss before he hurried to the loo to check his appearance—it had been one thing to kiss, or sleep in the same bed, or eat breakfast together without being self-conscious when they were just friends, but now he felt he had to impress. When he returned to the kitchen Darcie was laughing. She walked over and gave him a hug and a kiss.

"Charlie, you should know I don't care about how you look first thing in the morning," she giggled. "I've seen you like this before. A little bedhead is not going to change my feelings for you."

"Okay," he laughed. "You know, Arielle wouldn't let me speak to her before she "put on her face" when we were dating."

"Don't talk about her," Darcie shuddered. "I hear she visited you."

"Jealous, my love?" He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"A little," she confessed. "I live letter to letter to be close to you and she can come visit you whenever she wants."

"Not whenever she wants—she came with River and some other friends of mine. It's not like she came by herself and stayed here alone with me," he kissed her cheek.

"I know," she returned to the food she was preparing. "Breakfast is served."

"It smells wonderful," he enthused. "Maybe you should have made dinner last night."

"Your food was good," she assured. "I didn't go hungry nor did I fall ill."

While they ate breakfast, Charlie (after swearing her to secrecy) told her all about Arielle's visit; how she and the others brought the Norwegian Ridgeback. She told him that the night his friends had acquired the dragon, four First Years had lost fifty points apiece from their houses and no one knew why they had been out of their beds that night. They also discussed her OWL results, how she was looking forward to the next round she faced, and that she had been made a Prefect for the upcoming school year.

"Can I introduce you to my friends today?" He asked as they tidied up after the meal.

"Yes," she nodded. "Do they know about me?"

"No. Not that I was keeping you a secret, I just…" there were no appropriate words and no good reason.

"It's okay, Charlie," she laughed. "I didn't expect you to tell them all about me. I was just curious. You know, your friends might have some questions if they know how old I am."

"Oh, right. I never remember that you're fourteen. You know, you're just Darcie and I can talk to you like an equal," he shrugged. "I mean like we were equal in terms of age. Do you want to be sixteen?"

"Yes. I can't do magic at my age and being sixteen will go along with that," she agreed.

"I'm going to get dressed. You need in the bedroom before I go in there?"

"No, I'll just be finishing up out here," she shook her head.

"Okay," he kissed her and went to change.

Charlie's mates were quite friendly when meeting Darcie and she seemed to make a good impression on them; even Siobhan was kind to her, but she had made no further passes at Charlie after their initial encounter. Afterwards Davey would congratulate him on such a pretty girlfriend and he would shrug and agree while watching Darcie chatting in depth with Alec about the Charms curriculum at his school. They spent hours with the others before Charlie's desire to be Darcie's focus overwhelmed his desire to have her meet his friends. He ushered her back to his flat.

Two weeks flew by and before Charlie knew it, it was time for Darcie to take her train back to England. He begged her to stay longer, but knew it was futile—she loved her great-aunt and could not bear to disobey her wishes. The night before, though, he gave it one more try.

"Stay," he pleaded.

"Charlie," she smiled up at him from beside him in bed, "you know that's impossible."

"You have some OWLs, you don't need to do more school," he said dismissively, but joking. "What you do need is me to kiss you good night every evening before bed."

"You know very well I need both of those things," she laughed. "But unless you can figure out a way for you to be here every day and at Hogwarts every night to kiss me, I'm going to have to go without the kisses."

"Why do you deny yourself what you truly want?" He began to kiss her neck.

"Delayed-gratification," she replied simply. "When we're finally together it makes your kisses all the sweeter."

"It makes saying goodbye all the sadder," he quipped.

"True," she kissed him back. "But didn't not seeing each other for a year make this fortnight really special?"

"You win," he threw up his hands in surrender. "You're coming to visit next summer?"

"If I'm invited," she nodded.

"Oh, you're invited. You're invited for Christmas, and Easter, and every weekend," she covered her face with kisses. "I love you, Darcie."

"I love you, too, Charlie."

Darcie left the next day and Charlie's heart almost broke as the train pulled away from the platform to deliver her home. He walked back to his home slowly and dejectedly, not caring that it took him almost twice as long to reach his destination as it had when he was meeting Darcie at the train station. It even felt fitting when it began to pour rain.

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Another chapter finished. It made me happy to have them back together. I'm not sure I want to do an entire chapter for the next year…I just don't know if I can come up with enough to write about for either character's activities. Maybe this is the year of Darcie's POV. Chamber of Secrets from someone else's vantage point? I'll work on it.


	19. Chapter 19

So, I don't know at what speed owls fly—I'm more of a writer than an ornithologist. The letters are not successive, just the ones that are important to my story. I took a guess at dates. Also, thank you all again for your support. I've decided I should put it at the beginning of every new chapter (not so new an idea, but please bear with me) so everyone knows how grateful I am every time they read this story. Enjoy!

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**September 17**

_Darcie,_

_Happy birthday! I sent this as early as I dared to make sure it would arrive on time for your special day—which I hope it has, but if it's late, I'm sorry. I love you, Darcie. I hope your birthday is almost as incredible as you (nothing can quite compare with just how incredible you are)._

_I hear Ginny is in Gryffindor. Keep an eye on her will you? I know my brothers will, but girls notice things boys can miss. I'm sure, though, that you will always be available should she need homework advice. No one better to get help from than you._

_Anyway, enjoy the presents. Happy birthday._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

**October 21**

_Charlie,_

_I loved your last letter! I can't believe Davey got away with that. If it had been any professor here, it would have been dealt with with a million years of detention! Oh, goodness, I heard through the grapevine about detention with Lockheart (who's still an ass by the way) and it sounds mind-numbing! I cannot imagine spending more time with him than absolutely necessary, but don't tell your mum I said that, I know she idolizes him. Ginny is still miles away, but she's not said anything to me so I'm hoping everything is all right. _

_I have good news! Auntie said you can come spend Christmas with us. I told her your parents are going to Egypt to visit Bill, and your siblings are all staying here, and that you would be spending Christmas all by yourself. She says that you're welcome at our house. Remember, your name is Ferret and your parents are high in the Ministry. Write me back and let me know if you're interested._

_Love,_

_Darcie_

**November 24**

_Darcie,_

_I'm certain Ginny is fine, just being a little moody. I would love to spend Christmas with you and finally meet your Great-Aunt Zelda. I can't wait to see you! What should I get Zelda? Maybe you should pick out the perfect present and I'll just reimburse you later. Anyway, I don't have a whole lot to say. I'll write you when there's more._

_Love,_

_Charlie_

**December 15**

_Charlie,_

_I'll get Auntie's gift, stop worrying about it. I can't believe you get to spend an entire week at my house to celebrate Christmas! It'll be just the two of us…and Auntie, but she doesn't really count. We have to be careful of Lucy, though, because she sees everything and _will_ report it to Auntie. Bad news. Luckily, she lives in the kitchen and never leaves it unless her bell is rung or she has cleaning to do. We'll just have to be sneaky. It will be a memorable holiday season no matter what happens._

_Love,_

_Darcie_

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Charlie made certain to arrive at Darcie's home precisely on time the day he was due to start his visit. He was determined to make the best impression on Zelda Burke he possibly could because it was like he was an emissary for his entire family. The effect he made on her over the course of his stay would reflect on whether or not Darcie could ever visit his family or himself again, and that was something he could not risk.

Knocking on the door, firmly but not impatiently, Charlie waited to be greeted by someone from inside the imposing house. Darcie flung open the front door and beamed at him, her dark eyes sparkling. He could tell she was at least as excited about his coming to spend Christmas as he was because she was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. On an up bounce she kissed him swiftly on the cheek, he squeezed her hand. It had to be quick because Lucy was sure to be the first to open the door so Darcie had to have been waiting by the door to welcome him into the home.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hello," Charlie moved some hair from in front of her face. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too," she sighed and he had a feeling there would have been embracing if they had not both heard the pattering of little feet which heralded the coming of Lucy the house elf.

"Who is it, Miss Darcie? Is it our guest?" The house elf's huge brown eyes gazed up at Charlie suspiciously. "Yes, Lucy, this is Charlie Ferret. Charlie, this is Lucy."

"Hello, Lucy," Charlie smiled kindly down at the creature.

"Master Ferret," Lucy bowed deeply.

"Lucy, just leave Charlie's bags here until Auntie has decided where he will be sleeping during his stay here. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Miss Darcie," Lucy nodded. "Mistress Zelda is in the small parlour waiting for our guest."

"Thanks, Lucy," Darcie chirped. "Come on, Charlie, let's go meet with Auntie!"

Charlie followed Darcie through two long corridors past numerous closed doors, but the rooms he did see into were beautifully furnished. Darcie was holding his hand as they walked, but she dropped it when they reached what Charlie assumed was their destination. She smoothed his hair, straightened his shirt, and brushed his lips with hers before they entered the small parlour.

"Auntie, Charlie has arrived!" Darcie exclaimed as they entered the room.

"Miss Burke," Charlie took her hand in his and shook it confidently, but gently. "Charlie Ferret, at your service. May I say you have a lovely home and I am privileged and honoured to be a guest here.''

"What a well-spoken young man," Zelda smiled a small smile at him and Charlie thought Darcie's face might break with the size of _her_ grin.

"Thank you," Charlie grazed the back of Zelda's hand with his lips.

"So Charlie truly may stay for Christmas?" Darcie begged her.

"Of course he may," Zelda waved her hand as though the matter had never been in question.

Charlie's initial impression (based solely on her appearance, before she had said a word) was of a stern old woman. She may have once been attractive, but she was now so wrinkled that all her skin had folded in around her features, leaving only a puckered mouth, a pointed nose, and two milky, from sightlessness, grey eyes. Darcie bore no resemblance to her guardian, but Charlie had no idea how the two were related so he hoped that she would not one day look like Zelda Burke.

"I hear your mother and father are spending the holidays in Egypt with your older brother. Is that correct?" Zelda, obviously, could not see him, but she seemed to know in which direction to look when speaking to people.

"That's correct, Madam," Charlie agreed. "Bill works for Gringotts"

"And your younger siblings are still studying at Hogwarts?" Zelda inquired.

"Yes, Auntie. I'm in class with one of his brothers," Darcie informed.

"And do you know anything about what is happening at the school?" Zelda wondered.

"Only what Darcie and my family make me aware of in their letters," he shook his head before he remembered all gestures were lost on the elderly witch. "I have to say, I'm glad know Darcie is safe here over Christmas."

That proved to be the wrong thing to say. Zelda Burke's thin lips pressed together in a tight line and a frown creased her already wrinkled forehead. Darcie looked upset and as though she feared what was to come.

"If Albus Dumbledore were doing his job properly, we would not have to be grateful for Darcie's safety—we would be able to take it for granted," Zelda's voice was steely.

"Auntie, perhaps we should take Charlie's possessions to his room. Where will he be staying?" Darcie broke into the conversation.

"Charlie may sleep in the downstairs bedroom," Zelda decided imperiously. "I believe that will be all until dinner. Darcie, give Mr. Ferret a full tour of our home."

"Of course, Auntie," Darcie kissed her great aunt on the cheek.

"See you at dinner," Charlie once more shook Zelda's hand. "Good afternoon."

"And to you, young man," she gracefully inclined her head.

Darcie led Charlie out of the small parlour and past a closed door into a room with a desk and multiple bookcases. She closed the door and promptly flung her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips. He barely had time to catch his balance before she stepped back from him.

"You were perfect!" She enthused. "Auntie loved you! No more mention of Hogwarts, though. Lucius Malfoy is right in her ear saying horrible things about Dumbledore so the headmaster is sort of persona non grata around here."

"She isn't a fan of Dumbledore?" Charlie was not surprised to know there were people who did not care for Dumbledore, but despite what he had heard about the Malfoy family and others who prized "blood-purity" he was a little shocked at how much dissension there seemed to be.

"No one in her circle likes him or cares for the way he does things," Darcie explained patiently. "Don't be upset—people are entitled to their own opinions, and I certainly don't share hers."

"I'll not talk about him again," Charlie promised. "Are you going to show me to my bedroom or are you going to stay here and maul me?"

"Ha ha," she rolled her eyes. "Come along."

Once again Charlie trailed behind Darcie as they returned to the foyer to retrieve Charlie's belongings. Once his backpack was slipped over his shoulders and they each carried an end of his trunk, Darcie brought him to the room he would be using. It was no smaller than his room at the Burrow, but it was so richly decorated he was almost afraid to step foot in it.

Then, he was taken to her room and his jaw literally dropped. It was exactly how he would have pictured her bedroom if he had ever taken the time to really think of her surroundings outside of Hogwarts or the Burrow. There were four floor-to-ceiling oak bookcases crammed with books of every size and age, a large oak desk covered in ink bottles and pieces of parchment, and a canopy bed. He moved to the doorway to have a better look and the door slammed in his face. Darcie giggled and he shot her a quizzical look.

"You can't go in there." She chuckled. "There are enchantments preventing boys from entering. To protect my virtue. It's used in conjunction with an age line so a father could get in to see his children. You're too young as yet."

"No midnight visits to your room I gather," he shrugged. "Very well. But how am I to protect you from your nightmares?" At that she paled and frowned; Charlie knew something was wrong. "Darcie, what's the matter?"

"There are spells in place so no one hears my screams," she informed. "Don't try to listen for them because it won't work. Auntie thinks I'll grow out of the nightmares and says she'll not coddle me until then."

"I'll coddle you!" Charlie offered and she gave him a tiny smile. "Well, she can't protest if we sit up late talking."

"I don't think so," Darcie agreed.

The tour of the house took until it was almost dinner and then the two young people slipped into a room far out of earshot of the elderly woman and the house elf, where they sat together in silence cuddled on a couch for an hour. In the interest of safety, they broke apart when they heard Zelda and her cane coming down the corridor. They sat on chairs in opposite corners of the room, not daring to look at one another for fear someone would laugh, and waited for the elder Miss Burke to pass.

Much of the dinner conversation that evening was comprised of Zelda trying to get to know Charlie who, in turn, tried to be as honest as possible without revealing any inconvenient truths about his family. He found it was actually fun to make up stories about the things his family had done and where they had lived. Darcie said little, but Charlie noticed she was fighting not to laugh as he fabricated a life-history for the Ferret family. After dinner, they retired to the small parlour and Darcie read aloud from what Charlie gathered was one of Zelda's favourite books.

"Darcie, I'm off to bed," Zelda declared once Darcie had read two full chapters. "I hope you both rest well and I will see you in the morning."

"Good night, Auntie," Darcie kissed her guardian's cheek.

Charlie, once again, shook her hand. "Sleep well, Miss Burke."

"Thank you," she clasped her weathered hand to his cheek.

"So, Darcie," Charlie began when they were finally alone, "how are you dealing with all the incidents happening at Hogwarts?"

"I'm scared, Charlie," she admitted. "I know I have little to fear because I'm a pureblood, but I worry about all the Muggle-born students."

"And who do you think is behind these attacks?" He inquired.

"Oh, I don't know," she frowned. "It doesn't matter to me. Like I said, I'm a pureblood, but mostly I just want it all to be finished."

"Have you spoken to Ginny?"

"No, she doesn't speak much to anyone," Darcie shook her head. "But I try to be kind to her."

"I'm sure you do," he darted glances round the room and toward the door before catching her up in his arms. "I love you, and, God, I've missed you."

"I can't believe you're here," she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Truthfully, I can't either," he laughed.

"Those stories you told Auntie were hilarious! I couldn't look at you without wanting to giggle," and she did so. "She's very impressed with you all, though, which is important."

"Well, I was anxious to make a wonderful first impression. I think I succeeded, eh?" He kissed a spot on her neck he knew to be very sensitive.

"You made a better first impression than I had anticipated," she confessed.

"Better than I had anticipated," he confirmed.

Charlie woke in his bed Christmas morning and looked outside to see piles of snow where, the night previously, there had been only dry, brown grass. Darcie came barrelling into his room and jumped onto the end of his bed to wake him at six in the morning. She was grinning from ear to ear and holding a piece of parchment wrapped with a green piece of ribbon.

"Happy Christmas!" She wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Happy Christmas, Darcie," he kissed her deeply. "What do you have there?"

"It's just a small letter, but you're not to open it before you leave," she instructed firmly.

"Whatever you say," he touched his forehead in mock salute.

"Come, Auntie wakes every morning at precisely eight o'clock so we have two hours to do whatever we like, but we cannot do it here," she stood up again. "I'll let you dress."

"That's very considerate of you," he chortled and climbed out of his bed.

For two hours Charlie and Darcie sat, talked, and occasionally kissed in the large drawing room housing a piano the likes of which Charlie had never before seen. It had seven pedals and hundreds of keys; he wished he had the opportunity to play it and find out what sorts of sounds it made, but he had no desire to awaken Zelda Burke and cut short his precious time with Darcie that morning. The Christmas tree was also in that room and it was romantic to have the candles blazing away and the fairy lights splaying shadows over Darcie's features.

"Darcie, are you both in here already?" Zelda asked as she shuffled past the door and heard their voices.

"Oh, Auntie, I'm just so looking forward to opening my presents!" Darcie exclaimed, leaping out of Charlie's reach.

"I think we might prefer to enjoy our breakfast first," Charlie suggested, sensing that was the direction Zelda was leaning.

"I completely agree," Zelda nodded approvingly.

They had a quick meal before returning to the drawing room where Darcie (energized like Charlie had never seen her) began distributing presents to everyone. Charlie received some very respectable gifts. His visit with the Burkes was a little quieter than Charlie would have liked, but it was enjoyable to spend so much time with Darcie and even get to know her great aunt. The old woman was nowhere near the frightening old gargoyle Charlie had pictured in his head—not from what Darcie had said about her, but he had always assumed she was crotchety, and a snob, and just not a nice person. She was stern and serious, but she seemed to have taken a liking to Charlie and she never put up a fuss when he and Darcie sat alone for hours on end.

All too soon, though, it was over. It was New Year's Day and it was time for Charlie to return to Romania and say goodbye to Darcie and her aunt. Zelda had said goodbye in her private study, but Darcie accompanied him to the front door to bid him farewell.

"Thank you for coming," Darcie looked more upset than he had seen in her in a long time.

"At least you're not smiling to see me go," he tipped her head up so they looked each other in the eyes. "Darcie, you're coming to see me in the summer. This isn't goodbye forever."

"I know, but it was so nice to have you all to myself in my home," she explained.

"I'll see you soon enough," he kissed her ardently. "Goodbye, Darcie, I love you."

"Goodbye," she squeezed his hand.

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Another chapter down. I thought it would be interesting to introduce Aunt Zelda into the mix. She's not such a bad old bird, just old and set in her ways. I think we'll skip straight to the summer unless anyone objects. There won't be a visit to the Burrow because of the trip to Egypt, but Darcie will definitely make an appearance in Romania.


	20. Chapter 20

Summer time, at last. Thank you all for reading and liking my story. Please r/r!

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The Weasley family trip to Egypt was the first time Charlie was able to visit Bill in the place he was so happy and doing what he loved. His brother's hair had grown long—which Mrs. Weasley pointed out as often as possible—and he wore the fang earring Charlie had sent him for Christmas. While Charlie liked the look of the earring, he did doubt Darcie would feel the same way, so he decided not to consider the matter further.

It had been nice to see his younger siblings, too, although Ginny kept looking miserable for reasons of which Charlie and Bill were not aware, but discussed in private. Only once their father had informed them about _exactly_ what had happened at Hogwarts that year did their interest in their sister's moodiness drop. After the trip to Egypt, Charlie focused on readying himself (and his flat) for Darcie's arrival in Romania where she was planning to spend a few days before beginning her Sixth Year at Hogwarts.

Darcie arrived the middle of August to sweltering heat and the blistering brightness of the sun; Charlie had nearly passed out from overheating during his walk to the train station so it was not hard for Darcie to persuade him they should, once again take a taxi. Taxi was apparently the word for automobiles for hire as Charlie had learned from his father—not tasky to Charlie's great embarrassment, but Darcie seemed to care little. In fact, once they were in the taxi, Darcie seemed not to care about anything, but the thing the driver had called air conditioning.

"Darcie," Charlie started when they were inside his new flat. The old flatlet was reserved for students and once Charlie had been hired by the dragon sanctuary he had had to find a new place to live. "Darcie, is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine," she shrugged as they placed her trunk in the bedroom. "It's just so infernally hot. Literally, I suppose."

"Good. Come over here and kiss me. It's been months since I was kissed properly," he exclaimed. When they pulled apart all he could do was grin.

"You have such a goofy look on your face," she accused. "Do I do that to you?"

"Yes, and it's wonderful. And it's wonderful that you're finally here," he kissed her again. "I'm sorry we had to put off this visit, but Mum and Dad wanted the whole family to be in Egypt and I couldn't say no."

"Of course you couldn't," she shook her head. "Family is important. I don't really know from experience since all I have is Auntie and I can't even be sure if we are family, but I think I know from not having family that it's important."

"You, my dear, are wise beyond your years. You know, I'm not sure I ever realized 'til I was out here by myself just how much my family meant to me," he mused. "But I've always known how important you are."

"Charlie, you turn my head with such talk," she laughed and kissed him for a full minute.

"A head as pretty as yours deserves to be turned with such talk," he replied when she let him catch his breath. "Now, what should we do?"

"We could go get a bite to eat," she suggested. "There was no good, healthy food on the train. Even for ready gold!"

"Too sophisticated for Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Beans?" Charlie teased.

"They don't make a proper meal!" She replied defensively.

"I know," he assured and stroked her hair. "Come on, Davey should beat home. We'll see if he wants to join us for lunch."

"Great. Will you carry me?" She jumped on his back without waiting for an answer.

"I don't think so," he refused to grab her legs and she slid to the floor. "Do you want me to die of heat exhaustion halfway there? You're almost as tall as I am, when do I get to be carried?"

"When you don't weigh almost twice as much as I do," she quipped.

"One, I don't weight _that_ much. Two, you're underweight for your size so it's not hard to weigh more than you. Three, it's all muscle!" It was his turn to be defensive.

"I know," she stood from the floor and took her hand. "But you're still not riding on my shoulders. Nice try."

Davey was at home and they were able to convince to join them for a meal. Darcie was still claiming to sixteen (Davey had looked confused, but Darcie had smoothed over everything) because she had to be underage or people would wonder why she was not doing magic. Lunch went well and the two boys spent the rest of the day showing Darcie around their little town.

"What should we do today?" Charlie wondered when they were finished breakfast the next morning.

"Let's stay indoors with the windows shut and no light," she proposed. "Darkness will keep us cool and we can keep ourselves warm."

"Darcie," he held her at arm's length, "this isn't like you at all. Is everything all right?"

"Charlie," she mimicked his serious face, "I love you. I want to show you my love."

"Oh my."

Charlie loved Darcie—he had loved her in one way or another since they met—and could not imagine not loving her. Today, though, he could show her how much he was in love with her; today they could possibly make love for the first time. He had to make certain it was what she truly wanted because he would die if he forced her into anything that made her uncomfortable, and this was something of which she had to be sure. If Darcie was not ready to have sex with him, he would not force her no matter how badly he desired it. He would have been kidding himself if he said he did not think about sleeping with Darcie and doing more than just actually sleeping.

"Charlie?" Her dark eyes were full of concern. "Have I said something to upset you?"

"No," he had to make that clear. "No, what you've said just made me think."

"I'm fifteen, I know that's young, but you're much older and you were only a year older when you and Arielle made love," she was speaking in a high voice at a very rapid pace. "As a Virgo I'm not good at showing my emotions all the time, but I want you to know how much I love you. I'm trying to tap into my passionate, fiery Sagittarius Moon."

"Darcie, I know you love me," he assured her. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do to show me how much you love me. You say it which is what matters. Is this what you really want?"

"Yes," her face was serious.

"Then we'll do it," he picked her up and spun her around. "But you have to know this decision is up to you. We'll do nothing you don't like or don't want to do. I promise."

"I know," she nodded, smiling the most seductive smile Charlie had ever seen grace her lips. "Now? Or shall we save it for later?"

"Later," he decided. Privately he thought it would give her time to change her mind if this was not what she really and truly wanted.

Later came and Charlie was nervous. He did not usually succumb to nerves which was what made him such a confident flyer, but this was more nervous than he had ever been for anything like an exam or facing a dragon. Strangely, he felt somewhat sad. It upset him a little to think that his first time would not be with Darcie, that he had already given himself to Arielle, but (he reasoned) this way he would be able to make it look like he knew what he was doing.

Darcie did not seem nervous in the slightest, she took charge and they quickly moved on from kisses and light caresses. Charlie felt silly that he had been nervous and let himself be swept away in the feeling of what was happening. Afterwards, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Awaking in the middle of the night, Charlie noticed that he was alone in his bed and, pulling on his robe, he went to seek for his girlfriend. He found her, dressed in her pyjamas, in the sitting room curled up on the couch and she looked deep in thought, it was hard for him to approach her. When he did take the seat next to her, she crawled into his lap and snaked her arms around his neck.

"Charlie?" She whispered.

"Hmm?" He asked sleepily.

"I love you," she kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you, too," he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I don't want to lose you," she added.

"You won't. Let's go back to sleep." He stood and carried her to bed.

Darcie was still asleep when Charlie woke in the morning so he let her lie in bed until she felt like being awake. He decided that whatever she felt like when she awoke, he would see it through to the end until she could be happy again if she was sad or angry, and if she woke happy, he would just try to keep her that way as long as possible. On his part, he was elated. Showing their affection in such an intimate and lasting way had made his feelings for her all the stronger, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Good morning," Darcie yawned as she walked out of the bedroom.

"Good morning," he swooped her up in a big hug. "Sleep well?"

"Perfectly," she replied, smiling shyly. "And you?"

"Well, except for an interruption to find where my love had hidden. Why were you on the couch instead of in my arms?" He was curious.

"I needed a few minutes to process everything," she explained. "Nothing was wrong! You know I need time to digest everything on a mental plane."

"As long as nothing was wrong," he looked deep into her eyes for reassurance. "Good."

"Breakfast time yet?" She looked around for some signs of food preparation.

"No," he confessed. "I, too, was processing things."

"Fair enough," she shrugged and went to the kitchen.

"Darcie?"

"Yes, Charlie?"

"Will you marry me?" Those were not the words he had meant to come out of hi mouth, but they were the ones that seemed to have been on the tip of his tongue.

"What?" She burst out laughing.

"I didn't mean to say that, but I meant what I said," he was slightly offended by her response. "I want to marry you."

"Charlie," she came back to him and took his hand. "I'm fifteen, still in school, and living in a different country. Is marriage really what you want?"

"I want you to be mine. Forever. We're not going to get married right away, but one day I want to marry you," he was in earnest.

"Auntie would kill us. Your mum and dad don't even know we're together. No one does except Fred and George," she sat him down on the couch.

"So? You'll be out of school soon enough and then you'll be moving out here, right?" He wanted to know they were on the same page.

"I hadn't thought about it," she admitted. "I suppose I know enough Romanian to live here, but, again, Auntie would kill me."

"Not if we're married," he urged.

"Right out of school, Charlie?" She looked at him sceptically.

"Why are you being so pessimistic?" He suddenly knew what Darcie meant when she talked about passionate, fiery Sagittarius.

"Charlie, calm down, please," her voice was soft and low. "We just had sex for the first time and emotions are high. I do want to marry you, but we have to be reasonable."

"You're right," he took some slow breaths. "You want to marry me?"

"Of course," she giggled. "What you think this is just some little fling for me? I'm in love with you Charlie, every day apart is horrible for me, and I live for the times I do see you. But there's more to life than just wanting to be together."

"So, are we engaged?" He asked.

"I think so," she fought a smile.

"I don't have a ring for you," his face fell. "I don't know if I can afford it right now."

"Charlie, this engagement is a secret like the rest of our relationship, I think a ring might give it away," she pointed out, grinning.

"You'll have a ring before you leave Hogwarts," he promised.

"Okay," she kissed him. "Oh, Charlie, I'm happy right now."

"Not as happy as I am," he challenged. "I don't know if I'll stop smiling all day. Can I at least tell my family you're my girlfriend now?"

"I think you can tell your brothers, but I don't want your parents to write to Auntie about it," she cautioned. "How is your family? I was sad I couldn't visit them this year, but I only had time to visit one place and I thought you would be upset if I didn't come to see you."

"I would have been," he agreed.

"So I made the right choice," she tossed her hair. "You know I couldn't have not come to see you. Spending a whole summer with Auntie is no longer an option since I met the Weasley family."

"Mum and Dad say hi," Charlie informed. "The twins bought you something in Egypt and they were unhappy they can't give it to you until the new term starts. Percy's Head Boy, Ron is bragging about the trip to anyone he meets, and Ginny has finally perked up after everything that went on her First Year."

"The poor girl," Darcie frowned. "I'm so sorry I didn't watch over her like I promised."

"How could l have expected you to stop her from writing in a diary?" He demanded. "I know you tried to be her friend. I couldn't have asked for anything more."

"Well, at least she's all right."

"She's fine now," he waved his hand dismissively.

The next night was one of the scariest occurrences of Charlie's life. It had been a long time since he had heard Darcie screaming in her sleep—she never did when they shared a bed—but that night the her screams were loud and right in his ear. The noises woke Charlie so violently that he fell out of bed.

"Darcie!" He shouted to be audible over the decibel her shrieks were reaching.

"Charlie!" She wailed as her eyes flew open. "Oh, Charlie!"

"Darcie, what the hell is the matter?" He asked as he took her in his arms.

"I had a dream," her voice was muffled by his shoulder so he held her until she was calmer.

"You have dreams all the time," he reminded.

"It was about Auntie!" She cried. "Oh, it was terrible! She was sitting with me, and I was reading to her from her favourite novel, and then she was swallowed by darkness. There were these horrible bats and a woman's face. I don't know who she was, but she beckoned to me. She was with that man I see—with the white face and the red eyes!"

"Darcie, you were dreaming. You're going home soon and you'll be able to see that your dream was just that, a dream," he assured her.

"All right," she nodded drowsily. "Good night, Charlie."

"Good night, my love," he kissed her softly and she was asleep again in no time.

Darcie's trip was over two days later in order for her to go to Diagon Alley with Zelda to purchase her new school supplies, and she had been promised a new wand. The stay, as usual, had been far too short in Charlie's opinion, but he was in Zelda's good graces and he did not want to risk upsetting her. The younger witch seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood the day they went back to the train station.

"You look chipper," Charlie remarked bitterly.

"If I don't smile, I don't know what I'll do," she retorted. "I'm don't want to leave."

"Then stay for another day and order your books," he said impulsively.

"You know I can't do that," she took his hand. "You know I want to stay more than anything, but I really need to go home and be with Auntie. She's expecting me to be coming home on the train and it's not as though it's a short journey."

"I know," he groaned. "I've gone over these reasons a million times in my head, but everything seems to pale in comparison to how much I love you. It's more important to me that you're here where I can see you every day. But soon enough you'll be finished at Hogwarts and you'll come here to live with me."

"Soon enough," she nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, Charlie. Don't miss me too much."

"I miss you already," he laughed. "Have a good trip."

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So my second chapter in two days. I know it's short, but there was that trip to Egypt for which I had to account. There was little time left for a long visit. This chapter is as sexual as it's going to get. I just can't write sex for Harry Potter. It's a childhood thing for me that I don't want to mar with anything too dirty. Just sweetness.


	21. Chapter 21

Thanks for reading. You've made it this far. What an accomplishment. Thank you for sticking with me, I know it's a long story, but I hope you're enjoying it!

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Darcie and Charlie did not see much of each other that year. He was working as much as possible in order to save up for the most beautiful ring he had seen in a shop in the town next to the one where he lived, and Zelda was ill so Darcie was spending as much time with her guardian as possible. Even Christmas was spent apart when Charlie again visited Bill in Egypt and Darcie went home for the holidays. They wrote at least once a week, though, and he never felt too far from the heart of his girlfriend.

When summer rolled around, Darcie was scheduled to come for a visit, but then Mr. Weasley acquired enough tickets for himself, all of Charlie's siblings, and Ron's best friends to see the Quidditch World Cup. Darcie was invited to the Burrow after the match, but she had declined citing there would hardly be enough room for everyone who went to the Cup let alone if they added her to the mix. Charlie also knew that the next Christmas might not be a time for them to spend time together because he assumed she would want to attend the Yule Ball (of which she was not aware, but Charlie was) even alone. No one knew the next time they would see each other.

Charlie knew he was in trouble with Darcie when he received a long letter from her days after the fiasco at the Quidditch World Cup. She was furious about the four word note he had scribbled to her after the incident. He realized he probably should have written more to her once life had calmed down, but with the whole family at home along with Ron's friends Hermione Granger and _the_ Harry Potter, it slipped his mind. It flooded into his mind when a beautiful black owl tapped at the window of his and Bill's room early Thursday morning.

"Charlie, I think it's for you," Bill stroked the bird and tossed the letter to him.

"What?" Charlie rubbed his eyes and began to read. "Damn."

"Huh?" Bill grunted.

"It's from Darcie. I wrote her after the World Cup, but it was four words, and I haven't written since. She's not happy with me. Do we have any parchment lying around?"

"You're in trouble," Bill intoned, but gave him a sheaf of parchment.

After searching for and locating a quill and some ink, Charlie began to pen a response to his fiancée. There was a promise to visit her, more than one apology, and all his love. Attaching his letter to the black owl's leg, he let it go, and fell back to sleep.

"Fred, George, c'mere," Charlie pulled them aside later in the day. "I'm going to visit Darcie."

"Took you long enough," George rolled his eyes.

"We've been writing her," Fred added, "Send her our love."

"You don't want to come with me?" Charlie had been sort of hoping he would not have to go all by himself.

"Nah," George shook his head.

"I think she's hoping to see you alone," Fred informed, grimacing. "Good luck, mate."

"Thanks," Charlie sighed.

"Maybe Percy will go with you," Fred snorted.

Percy had already left for the Ministry, so it looked like Charlie would, indeed, be calling on Darcie alone. He told only his mother he was leaving and where he was going. She packed a heavy bag of cakes and cookies ("I really don't think that girl gets enough to eat unless she's here") before she would allow him to Disapparate. He did so and arrived in front of the Burke home. He rang the doorbell and was greeted by Lucy, the house elf. She bowed low to him and ushered him inside the house, bringing him to the small parlour and assuring him she would retrieve Darcie.

"Charlie!" Darcie's voice was sharper than he had heard it before. "Charlie Weasley, you terrified me!"

"Darcie," he took her in his arms. "I'm so sorry. I was just so glad to be home and Mum was fussing over all of us. I didn't even think to let you know."

"Well, you should have," she swatted his arm. "I love you, we're supposed to be engaged, and you don't even let me know what's happening!"

"I know, keep your voice down. Do you want Zelda to hear us?" He hissed.

"Auntie can't hear much these days," Darcie's face fell. "She's very tired, too."

"I'm sorry," he kissed her on both cheeks.

They talked for a couple of hours about how they had each spent the past year without each other, and Charlie could hardly contain himself from telling her all about the ring he had chosen for her. She seemed very distracted and Charlie worried that her being unfocused was a bad sign. He knew she was devoted to her great aunt and he assumed that Darcie was very distressed over Zelda's very poor health. Eventually, though, it was time for Charlie to leave and return to the Burrow. He promised, though, to see her as soon as possible and come immediately if she needed him—all she had to do was send him an owl.

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Send him an owl she did and he kept his word. It was the day of her seventeenth birthday when he received the letter begging him to come to her house. The date struck him as odd because she should have been at Hogwarts celebrating her coming of age and deciding whether or not she wanted to enter the Triwizard Tournament, but he spoke to his supervisor and was granted a couple days of emergency leave. She did not say why she needed him, but that was not important to him; all that mattered was that she needed him.

Packing a few belongings, he Disapparated from his home to the end of the lane in front of the gigantic house where Darcie and Zelda lived. He took a deep breath and approached the expansive estate. No sooner had he rung the doorbell than Darcie appeared at the door, her eyes red and her face stained with tears.

"Darcie?" The word was all he could utter before she flung herself into his arms. "Darcie, what's wrong? What is the matter?"

"Auntie Zelda is dead. I was sent home yesterday from Hogwarts yesterday when Professor Dumbledore was sent an owl saying Auntie was very ill and I should return home," Darcie's voice was strong, but tears slipped down her flushed cheeks.

"Oh, my God, Darcie, I'm so sorry," he held her close to his chest.

"Come inside," she took his hand and he followed her into the house.

"Is it terribly inappropriate to wish you a happy birthday? I sent you a present, but I sent it to Hogwarts," he had no idea what to say to her.

"Thank you," she led him to the large parlour. Charlie had never been farther into this room than the doorway. "I don't know to do, Charlie."

"Can I help you with anything? Is there anything that I can do?" He wondered.

"Just sit with me for a while?" She requested.

Charlie and Darcie sat in the large parlour in silence, the only noise Charlie heard over the course of half an hour was heart-wrenching sobs coming from Lucy's portion of kitchen where she mourned her long time mistress. In the parlour, Darcie was in Charlie's arms and she did not move, she did not cry, she did not speak for a full half hour. If he had not felt her clear her throat occasionally, he would have wondered if she was even awake.

"You know, she wanted me to put my name in for the Triwizard Tournament," Darcie said out of the blue. "She said she knew I had the brains for it."

"Of course you have the brains for it," he was glad of the chance to break the silence. "Are you going to put your name forth?"

"No," she shook her head. "I have far too much schoolwork in my future. You know I took four NEWTs last year and I still have six this year. Not that it matters."

"Why doesn't it matter?" He was truly confused.

"I did this to make Auntie happy. She wanted me to excel at school so I did. But now I don't see the point," Darcie shrugged.

"You don't see the point?" He was shocked. "Your marks on all of your NEWTs determine what you do after Hogwarts. Have you decided that by the way?"

"Well, I know I don't want to be an Auror," she responded. "Mad-Eye Moody has discouraged me from wanting to do that. I'm not imaginative or suspicious enough."

"That's fine by me, I'd spend half my time worrying about you," Charlie said. "Healers are required to have high marks, have you thought about being one of them?"

"I have, but it just doesn't appeal to me. I was thinking I might like to work for Gringotts and work with gold, but I'm not sure I'd care for the goblins," she shuddered.

"Bill likes his job, but he says it can be difficult to work with goblins. I'm sure Percy could get you a job with Mr. Crouch, but that man is more boring than watching dragon dung dry," he laughed and was glad to see a tiny smile flit across her face.

"Oh, Charlie, now isn't the time to discuss my entire future," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, I thought it might help take your mind off your present," he patted her back. "So, what do you want to do for the present?"

"I suppose I need to plan a memorial service," she mused, her tone businesslike.

"A funeral? Already?" He had to admit he was shocked.

"No time like the present," she nodded. "It'll be simple, but I suppose a lot of people will want to attend. You could come, but I doubt you'd be welcomed by the other guests."

"I suppose a blood traitor at the funeral of a descendant of one of the men who opened the darkest dark arts store in Knockturn Alley would be a problem," he consented. "What are you going to do after the service?"

"I was thinking a few days in Romania," she said flippantly.

"Romania?" He stopped, this was making no sense.

"I have to sell this house because I won't be living here and, obviously, Zelda won't be living here."

"And we'll have a home in Romania," he declared. "That's what we'll do when you come to Romania. If we find someplace we like, I'll knock about in it alone for a while."

"Thank you," she did not fling her arms around his neck like he had expected, but the intense look in her eyes conveyed the exact same message.

"Miss Darcie," Lucy shuffled into the room, gigantic eyes full of unshed tears.

"Yes, Lucy?" Darcie jumped out of Charlie's hold on her.

"Miss Zelda asked Lucy yesterday to give this to you," she handed over a thick, yellowing envelope. "Miss Darcie, what is to become of Lucy?"

"I don't know right now what all is to come in the future, Lucy, but I will make sure someone takes care of you. I promise," Darcie patted the tiny being on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Miss Darcie," Lucy left them alone once more.

"What is it, Darcie?" Charlie wondered looking at the envelope in Darcie's hand.

"I don't know," she shook her head, "I haven't opened it yet."

_Darcie,_

_Your name was all your mother gave to you. I have given you home, clothed you, and reared you. I never had children of my own, but you were the last chance I had to raise a child. It may have been selfish of me to keep you hidden away from others, especially other children, but I do believe it is the secret wish of every woman to have a child._

_I love you my girl. You are to inherit everything I own. Heaven only knows where your mother is and no one has been as devoted to me as you, all of it goes to you. Take care of Lucy, she is only a house elf, but she has served our family well._

_I believe that when I die it is high time for you to know just who your mother was. Her name was Tabitha Sinclair and she was a fine witch while she was at Hogwarts and you certainly have her head for schoolwork. When you were just a small child, He Who Must Not Be Named was very powerful and he amassed many followers. Your mother was weak-willed and our family has always believed in the purity of wizarding blood. It is my belief that she fell prey to the lure of the group led by He Who Must Not Be Named and became what is called a Death Eater. These Death Eaters have done terrible things and many of them have been sent to Azkaban._

_Darcie, I have raised you to embrace the purity of blood, but I never taught you that violence and evil deeds are the way to power. Do not follow your mother's path. I believe in your abilities._

_Zelda Burke_

Charlie was unprepared for the emotional reaction Darcie would have to reading the epistle from her guardian and was taken aback when she burst into tears. He took her in his arms again and held her until she stopped sobbing, then he read the letter and he understood her dramatic and visceral response. She composed herself and sat up straight.

"I'm sorry, Charlie, this has just been a big day. I suppose there will be an official will somewhere bequeathing everything to me, but this should do for now," she clasped her hands together so tightly her knuckles turned white. "I have a funeral to plan."

"What can I do to help?" He knew there was no use arguing with her when her mind was so obviously set. "Can I make any arrangements?"

"Just stay with me," she requested.

"Of course," he nodded.

Darcie was extremely busy over the next few days making arrangements for her great aunt's funeral and selling the house. Charlie tried his best to be supportive while staying out of her way because if he did happen to be somewhere inconvenient, she would snap at him and then apologize looking like she was about to cry. Lucy was probably the least productive she had ever been as she spent much of her time sobbing in the kitchen, or the bedrooms, or the small parlour where Zelda had held court.

Eventually, though, all the i's were dotted, all the t's were crossed, and the funeral was ready to be held. Charlie spent the day in his guest room avoiding Lucy who, as a house elf, was not permitted to attend the service, but was supposed to prepare for a small luncheon to follow the affair. During the lunch, Charlie escaped the house to explore the surrounding town—he really did not want to be exposed to people who looked down on his family because they were not pricks about the blood status of anyone they did or did not know. At four he decided it was safe to return and joined Darcie in the huge, empty building.

"I'm done here," Darcie said that evening over a small tea. "Tomorrow, let's go to Romania and not return. I have an estate agent looking after the sale of the house."

"We'll go to Romania, but you are going to have to come back here some day," Charlie foretold. "Someone has to pack everything. Thank goodness for magic. Poor Muggles have to do everything by hand."

"I've stipulated that the new owners cannot take possession of the house until after Christmas," she informed. "All the packing can be done over the holidays."

"Won't you want to stay at Hogwarts?" Charlie inquired before he could stop himself.

"No," she shook her head. "I assume there will be something to do with the Triwizard Tournament and, honestly, I'm only interested in a cursory way."

"Are you mental?" His jaw literally dropped. "This hasn't been done in years and you're only interested in a cursory way? I understand you don't want to enter, but how can you not be fascinated by the entire experience?"

"I—" she faltered. "I just don't fancy seeing someone risk his neck for the glory. I also have a bad feeling about the whole thing."

"Darcie, sometimes you just have to ignore feelings and go for it," he exclaimed. "I have to admit, your feelings are a little harder to ignore. They're so well-founded."

"My dreams are getting very bad," she confided. "I don't understand them."

"They're dreams," he said rationally. "And I'm sure that we would have heard about a man with a white face and red eyes running about anywhere in the world."

"True," she shrugged. "They're just so vivid and they feel so real."

"Let's not talk about them. Let's talk about how great it will be to have you in Romania to find ourselves somewhere to live," Charlie took her hand in his over the dinner table.

"Oh yes," Darcie's face lit up at the idea.

It turned out that house-hunting in Romania was even more exciting than Darcie had expected it to be because Charlie had a surprise for her. When they found the house that Darcie loved and Charlie had to agree was perfect for them, he bent down on one knee and offered her the ring he had picked for her. She went bright pink when she saw it and nodded quickly, his heart raced while she examined it on her ring finger.

"Do you like it?" He needed to know.

"I love it," she leapt into his arms. "I have a ring, we have a house, and we're going to live happily ever after. Forever?"

"Forever and ever," he promised and kissed her.

Charlie made certain Darcie returned safely and promptly to Hogwarts when their time together in Romania was concluded. He was sad to see her go and was unsure whether or not he would be able to see her in the near future. The Sanctuary had already agreed were to supply three dragons for the Triwizard Tournament's first task, but it had to be a secret and he wondered if he could catch more than a passing glimpse of her while he visited his old school.

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So Darcie's mother is a Death Eater and no one knows where she is. Except me of course, but I think everyone can make an educated guess about where she's ended up if she's tangled up in Lord Voldemort's group. Thank you for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

I am so sorry for the delay, I've had so much trouble getting out this chapter and I moved across the country so I've been busy… Thank you all for your patience. I hope this one lives up to the others. Thanks for reading!

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Darcie and Charlie bought the beautiful house in Romania, but it did not make Charlie happy to be alone in the home all the time. On the bright side, though, there was no Lucy to keep a watchful eye over him and he was grateful for that—Darcie had actually brought up the idea of the two of them living alone in the place, which Charlie had immediately declined to put into action—but he was aware that as soon as Darcie's house had sold, Lucy would be joining him. He hoped Darcie's house would take a long time to sell.

Charlie was going to be visiting Hogwarts and the worst part was that he would probably be unable to see Darcie except for a few moments if he could even find her in the stands. It literally made his heart hurt to think of being so near her and not being able to talk to her or hold her in his arms. In fact, he contemplated writing to Fred and George for help, but then he knew he could be giving away the secret of the First Task and they would definitely tell Harry.

So, Charlie went to Hogwarts with the dragons and without hope of seeing more than a glimpse of Darcie. But despite his disappointment over that turn of events, he could not help being swept up in the excitement of witnessing the First Task of the first Triwizard Tournament held in recent memory. The whole time they were traveling, Charlie was preparing himself for being responsible for the lives of people not trained to deal with dragons. When they arrived at Hogwarts, Charlie was surprised at how strong his reaction to the school was—almost like he was home. One night, though, he was surprised to see Hagrid and the Headmistress of Beauxbatons taking a stroll by the dragon enclosure. His heart sank because he knew that the champion from Beauxbatons, Fleur Something, would be able to find out what the First Task was; then he saw the Headmaster from Durmstrang slipping through the trees and Charlie fervently hoped (knowing that Hagrid and Harry were friends) that Hagrid would let some information slip to Harry about the dragons.

The day of the Task arrived and Charlie was assigned to guard the Hungarian Horntail with a number of his coworkers throughout the day. He still harboured the hope that he would get to at least _see_ Darcie over the course of the day because they were due to fly back to Romania early the next morning. After watching Cedric Diggory (Charlie was still unsure how there were four champions in the Triwizard Tournament) receive a nasty burn, but perform rather well, Charlie was attacked, from behind, by a body.

"Charlie," Darcie's familiar voice was soft in his ear.

"Darcie? What are you doing here?" He asked stupidly.

"I go to school here," she replied. "I can see what _you're_ doing here. I suppose I can forgive you not telling me you were coming, having to keep it a secret and all. I saw there were dragons and thought I would be able to at least find a friend of yours. But I found you!"

"You certainly did. Come on, let's go find a great place to watch the next two champions—I'm assigned to the Horntail which is last," he grabbed her hand and they went to find the perfect vantage place.

It was the shortest amount of time they had spent together since starting their relationship because once the first three champions had competed, Charlie had to be in position for Harry's turn, and after that, Darcie had to join the other Gryffindor students for a celebration in honour of how well Harry had done. Darcie had reluctantly left Charlie's arms to watch the final champion's performance, but she had they promised to write soon. He was glad she had invited him to spend Christmas with her at the home she was selling as of 1 January.

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Darcie and Charlie met at King's Cross Station the day the Hogwarts' Christmas holiday began as soon as she rushed off the train. Charlie had been in England for only an hour and a half, but it seemed to long to be there without seeing someone he loved. All his younger siblings were staying at school in anticipation of the Yule Ball—even Percy was attending!—but he was thrilled Darcie was going to spend the time with him.

Their first Christmas alone together was something Charlie wanted to remember for the rest of his life. It may have been quiet, but it was perfect for them and their ways of living. He would not have traded their days at the home Darcie had inherited for half the gold in Gringotts. Lucy prepared a beautiful spread and Darcie and Charlie tried toke as effusive with praise as possible because they had important news to break to the elf. They were going to tell her that (with Dumbledore's permission) she would be working at Hogwarts until the end of term.

"Charlie," Darcie whispered to him as they were lying in bed on the eve of their departure to Romania for the remainder of her holidays.

"Yes, my dear?" He murmured.

"I'm excited. It's been so long since I was at the house in Romania; I'm sure my expectations are far too high, but I just can't help being so elated to be there with you," she exclaimed. "I think Lucy took the news rather well, don't you?"

"You mean aside from bursting into tears at the idea? Well, it's hard for her to even imagine being so far away from home in someplace so foreign," he reasoned.

"She needs to get used to the idea that she will have a new home," Darcie responded firmly.

"Just because she needs to do something doesn't mean she will. Unless you give her the order to do it, But I know you and know you would never do something so callous," he assured her.

"No, it would be like a second betrayal in her eyes. I do hope this isn't seen as a _huge_ betrayal, but I just cannot live here anymore. Not without Auntie," her eyes began to swell with tears.

"No one is asking you to live here without Zelda. In fact, they're paying you to not live here without her," he was joking, but could tell she found little humour in it. "Come on, it's time to sleep. Everything will seem better in the morning."

Things were not better in the morning. Darcie had hardly slept, Charlie had been unable to get comfortable with a conscious body lying next to him so he had slept poorly, and neither was in a very good mood when they came down to breakfast. Breakfast was a near-disaster with Lucy moping all around the place, and Charlie had to keep a gentle hand on Darcie's knee to remind her to be patient with the elf. When it was finally time for Charlie and Darcie to ready their broomsticks and trunks for their trip to Romania, she was so unfocused she singed off the bottom of her fringe, sending her into an even bleaker mood. Charlie was hoping things would turn around once they arrived at their new home and Darcie's mind was occupied with excitement.

Charlie's wish was granted in more than one way because not only was Darcie more excited than he had ever seen her, she was also exhausted from their trip so he practically carried her to the bedroom. She chattered sleepily on and on while they prepared for bed, but she snuggled close to him in the darkness of their master suite and was soon asleep. Everything was the way he had hoped it would be.

"Charlie!" Darcie's voice woke him from a deep slumber and he was surprised to find it was almost ten in the morning according to the clock by the bed. "Charlie, it's time for breakfast."

"You've already made breakfast?" He stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Of course," she replied, "I've been up for hours."

"I'm sure you have," he noted how newly cleaned the room looked.

"I've made a bacon frittata," she indicated the dish on the counter.

"You're a marvel," he kissed her cheek. "I'm starving."

"You better be. I think I made enough to feed your whole family; I did get the recipe from your mother," she laughed.

"We don't have to eat it all today," he began to serve himself. "It smells fantastic. Mum would be proud."

"I hope so," she truly looked like she hoped it.

"It's time to eat," he handed her a plate of bacon frittata and hash browns.

"There are some repairs you didn't tell me we needed," Darcie began once she was settled at the table. "The plumbing is absolutely archaic and the paint is peeling in the nursery."

"Nursery?" Charlie stopped chewing.

"That's just what it's called," she rolled her eyes.

"We'll put a baby in there one day," he declared. "If you want."

"Not right now, Charlie," she shook her head and rolled her eyes again. "Back to what I was saying, though…We need to have the plumbing replaced and have the room repainted."

"Whatever you want," he promised, helping himself to a second serving of the frittata.

"It can wait a few weeks," she shrugged. "I want it to be done before I move in for good and have to live with the problems."

"Of course," he wanted to listen, but he, personally, was fine with the plumbing and he never set foot in the nursery.

The rest of Darcie's stay at their beautiful home was spent getting the place ready for her return once school ended. She was in her element and Charlie was happy just to watch her doing whatever made her smile during their short time together. Eventually, though, he had to accept that she was going back to Hogwarts.

Because she was such a distance from the school, it was arranged that Darcie would take a train to England and stay at the home of a younger student (who was not permitted to attend the Ball) and ten take the Hogwarts Express back to school. Her departure from the station was quiet and Charlie hated the idea that they were going to be separated again until the end of term, but he knew that, once June rolled around, Darcie would be able to return to him and they would be together for the rest of their lives. That did not stop their being apart from being painful. She did leave and Charlie was alone, but he had his hope.

~:+:~

Charlie and Darcie's reunion was less joyful than he had anticipated for multiple reasons; not the least of which was the return of He Who Must Not Be Named. She was also upset over the loss of Cedric Diggory whom she had known a little through classes, but had always struck her as being kind and sincere. Charlie found himself of two minds that summer: Firstly, he was scared to his core that Voldemort had returned and looked like the man from Darcie's nightmares. Secondly, however, he was thrilled that he and Darcie were finally able to be together.

He had broken the news to his mother in a letter because he had been unable to get any time off to watch more of the Triwizard Tournament and see his family. She was less surprised than he had anticipated, but he supposed it was fairly obvious from the way he and Darcie had acted around each other. His father sent his congratulations on the engagement, too, but the main message of the letter was for the two of them to return to England right away for some sort of meeting with Dumbledore.

"Charlie, Darcie," Dumbledore sat them down in the sitting room of the house owned by Sirius Black (who, incidentally, was not an escaped mass murderer) and spoke to them seriously. "I would like you to join the Order of the Phoenix. Now, you are both young and have your lives ahead of you, but we need allies from anywhere we can make them. You two are living in Romania and ties there could prove invaluable."

"Of course, Professor," Darcie nodded as soon as he had stopped.

"I'm in," Charlie agreed and gripped his fiancée's hand.

"Wonderful," Charlie could not help noticing the smile that was on his old headmaster's face did not quite make it to the sparkling blue eyes. "Now, you cannot make a lot of waves because the Minister has not…been persuaded that Voldemort has returned, but if you can stir up any support, it would be a great feat."

"Absolutely," Darcie breathed. "And Charlie knows witches and wizards from all over the world which could only be helpful."

"But you must watch what you say. Any news that can be reported to Voldemort—you must grow accustomed to hearing the name—will be and we do not want to tip our hands too soon, Miss Burke," he instructed.

"Certainly not, Headmaster," Charlie shook his head. "Thank you for trusting us with such a mission. I suppose Bill is doing the same in Egypt."

"I have not yet had the chance to approach him with the proposal, but I did have it in mind," this time Dumbledore's smile met his eyes. "Thank you both for accepting such a treacherous assignment. I'm sure Molly and Arthur will keep you both up-to-date on what is happening in the Order."

"Mum and Dad won't keep it from us," Charlie was confident. "As much as they dare to pass through the mail, though, I guess."

"Good luck convincing Minister Fudge Voldemort has returned," Darcie bade Dumbledore. "If anyone can, Professor, it's you."

"Thank you, Miss Burke," Dumbledore nodded.

"We believe in you and Harry," Darcie burst out before Dumbledore left the room. "I don't know that it means anything, but we do."

"It means a great deal," Dumbledore gave them one more small smile and exited the sitting room.

"Darcie," Charlie began when they were alone.

"Not yet," Darcie shook her head. "I need to think. We're having dinner with your Mum and Dad tonight. We'll talk after that."

Dinner with his parents turned out to be different from what either Charlie or Darcie had expected it to be. Rather than eating with just Molly and Arthur, or even with the entire Weasley family, they ate with various members of the Order of the Phoenix which gave them no time to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Charlie was worried about his mother. Percy, the prat, had said some almost unforgiveable things to their parents and Molly was trying to put up a brave face, but Charlie knew there was a lot of hurt under her big smile. Darcie had had the story of the blowout recounted to her by both twins before she would truly believe the awful things they said. Charlie was aware that Darcie was close to Percy and was unsure how affected _she_ was by the notion that he did not believe Dumbledore or Harry when they said Voldemort was back to terrorize them. She would not, however, brook any mention of Percy, Dumbledore, or Harry Potter while they ate dinner that night.

"Charlie, I cannot believe this," Darcie said quietly when they were alone in their room.

"Which part? Because, frankly, I'm just kind of stunned by everything we've heard today," he confessed.

"I know," she nodded. "Everything just sounds so dramatic. But I think I'm really talking about Percy and his behaviour."

"His inexcusable behaviour," Charlie added.

"Yes, but you have to take into account Percy's feelings. You know, we shouldn't even be discussing this until one of us talks to him. I'll send him an owl," her face lit up at the idea. "Not tonight, though. We have bigger things to talk about than Percy tonight."

"Like your dreams?" Charlie had been wondering when to bring up that point.

"No. My dreams are nothing now," she looked upset. "All this time I've been having nightmares and never given Him a second thought. I feel like I've let down Dumbledore."

"You haven't. Come here," he took her in his arms and held her tightly. "You had no idea what you were seeing and no one blames you for a moment."

"No one else knows but you," she laughed dryly.

"Well, I don't blame you for a second. Come on, it's time for bed. We have an early morning to fly back to Romania," he kissed her and they both climbed into the bed.

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I know it's shorter than the other chapters and has taken so much longer, but it's out. I'm sorry for the delay. Hopefully, the next few chapters will come more easily.


	23. Chapter 23

Thank you to all my great readers! Please r/r!

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Living with Darcie, even in the precarious times in which they lived, was everything Charlie had hoped it would be. He woke up with her in his arms, he kissed her goodbye before he went to work, and he came home to her embrace. She had decided to study to become a Healer after all because it was the most studying she could do, and studying was something she loved. They had a simple life together, but it was a happy life.

Life with Lucy (who was part of the package of living with Darcie) was less uncomfortable than Charlie had foreseen it being. Sure it was strange to have someone waiting on him, but it was nice to not have to worry about the chores for which he, honestly, did not care. She was told to call him Mr. Charlie and that nothing they said could _ever_ be repeated to anyone else, but there was no one to tell as Lucy knew no one in Romania. Secrecy was key in their household, though, which Darcie stressed to the elf, because they spoke a lot about You Know Who and the Order.

"Darcie," Charlie said one evening to her while he mended a cloak and she studied, "I'm happy right now."

"I'm happy, too, Charlie," she beamed at him.

"I know I should feel scared about what's happening in Britain, but when I'm here in our little house and it's just us, I seem to only think about what I feel that moment. And a lot of the time, what I'm feeling is happiness," he elaborated thoughtfully and they fell into silence.

"I received an owl from Percy today," Darcie spoke up a few minutes later.

"And you're just telling me now?" He was annoyed she had waited so long to inform him of this. "What did he say?"

"Well, I worded my letter to him very carefully so as not to get up his guard, but he was still rather terse in his response," she frowned.

"He's being selfish. Now, what did he say?" Charlie wanted her to get to the point.

"That he was happy with his new position at the Ministry, but disappointed in me for being taken in by Harry and Dumbledore's fabrication as he called it."

"What?"

"Yes. He said he thought I was smarter than to listen to people trying to disrupt our peaceful society for a few more moments of fame. That my allegiance should be to the Ministry of Magic even if I wasn't living in the country rather than to the Headmaster of a school I no longer attend," Darcie's face was clouded with emotion.

"The idiot," Charlie breathed heavily. "Did he say anything about Mum or Dad?"

"Not a word," a tear slipped down her cheek. "But he said he was far to busy to carry on a relationship with someone who could be so blind as to believe such ridiculous tall tales."

"Oh, my dear," he gave her a big hug. "He didn't mean it."

"You know he did," she angrily wiped the tear off her face. "Percy doesn't say things he doesn't mean. He doesn't know, though, Charlie. He doesn't know what I've seen, what I see."

"See?" The word was sharper than he had intended it to sound.

"I have these horrible dreams of people torturing whole families. I know they're true and I don't want to bother you with them, but they're terrifying."

"You can tell me anything," he knew he had said it before, but he worried about the stress being put on her.

"I dream about this woman," she was no longer interested in the Percy problem for which Charlie was grateful. "She looks like me. She's in Azkaban—I can tell by what she's wearing—and I know she's my mother."

"Your mother?" His jaw actually fell open at the statement.

"There's no other explanation for our resemblance. Auntie said my mother fell in with the Death Eaters and it's likely enough that she went to prison for crimes she probably committed," she reasoned.

"And you think this is a reality-based dream. Not a dream like, well, normal people have?" Charlie was worried.

"No, I think I'm seeing my mum. She looks dreadful and scary, but she has my eyes and bone structure."

"Your mum must have done something really bad to end up there," he knew he was stating the obvious, but he was having some trouble wrapping his head around all the new information he was receiving that evening. "What do you want to do about this?"

"Nothing I can do," she shrugged. "I just wish I would stop dreaming about her."

"We might be able to find some old _Daily Prophet_s and see what she did," he suggested half-heartedly. "We could go to a library some time."

"Oh, God, no," she shook her head. "I don't care what she did. Haven't I been trying to distance myself from my family for as long as we've known each other? I don't care what she did."

"Okay," Charlie thought it was time to step away from the topic. "Davey, at work, is being an ass. I started talking, tentatively, about You Know Who being back and he told me there was no way. I know he's been reading my _Daily Prophet_s since we've been working together, but I'm kind of appalled he believes Fudge. I guess it's different because he doesn't know or trust Dumbledore."

"I've spoken to a couple of girls with whom I'm studying, but there's not much they want to discuss except their work," Darcie sighed.

"I hope Dad is having a better time of it at the Ministry," Charlie moved over to sit next to Darcie on the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders. "It's a scary world we live in, but I'm glad I have you."

"You'll always have me. Well, within reason, of course," she laughed.

"I'll always have you," he repeated. "Then I'm set."

The rest of the evening was quiet and spent in each other's arms, Charlie really felt as though he was set, in terms of happiness, for the rest of his life. After that night, though, he noticed a change in Darcie. Her dreams certainly must have been vivid for the way she tossed and turned in her sleep, her appetite changed, and she was ill a lot of days. One night, however, stood out from the rest as particularly intense.

Deep in sleep one night, Charlie was jolted awake by Darcie sitting straight up in bed with her eyes squeezed shut but mouth wide open in a silent scream. She began to whimper and Charlie was truly scared for her because he had no idea what she was seeing behind her tightly closed eyelids. Finally , he worked up the courage to shake her from her obviously disturbing nightmare.

"Charlie!" Darcie wailed as soon as her eyes focused on his face.

"Darcie, what's wrong? What were you seeing?" He placed his hands on her shoulders.

"She's mad," was all Darcie would whisper. "Bellatrix Lestrange is mad."

"Darcie, you were dreaming," he made sure she was looking into his eyes.

"It was so real," she gave a great dry sob and blinked a couple of times.

"I know, but it wasn't. I promise," he kissed her.

"I'm going to be sick," she rushed from the bedroom and Charlie lay against the pillows with a sigh.

"D'you want to talk about it?" He inquired as she returned to the bed, wiping her eyes.

"It was just this mad-looking woman in a cell in Azkaban. At least, I think it was Azkaban because it looks like where my mother is when I see her," she recounted.

"You said a name," he prompted.

"Did I?" She looked at him blankly.

"I think you said her name was Bellatrix Lestrange," he continued. "You said "Bellatrix Lestrange is mad", didn't you?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I don't remember."

Once Darcie had calmed down considerably, she fell back to sleep and did not disturb Charlie with movement again that night. Thoughts did disturb him, though. The name Bellatrix Lestrange was familiar and while he was unsure why, he knew it would do Darcie no good to be dreaming of such a person. He fell asleep, but woke early and sent a letter to his father (not wanting to distress his mother) casually asking who Bellatrix was.

Before Charlie went to work he and Darcie acted as though nothing had happened—and for all he knew, she had no memory of what _had_ happened. She was quite sick that morning so Charlie fixed them both breakfast and then left. When he got home, however, she looked almost as green and pale as she had prior to his leaving which concerned him, but she dismissed any question about how she was feeling. He dropped the topic.

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Things must have improved after the disturbing night because Darcie became like a new woman which warmed Charlie's heart. When things were normal, he could imagine them spending the rest of their days happily married in their little house in Romania. His mother asked every so often when the wedding would be, but they were happy enough living in unwedded bliss they gave it very little thought. Eventually, though, Charlie decided to broach the idea of getting married soon.

"Charlie, it's almost dinnertime, would you whip up a simple salad?" Darcie inquired as he entered the kitchen one night after work.

"Certainly, darling," he kissed her cheek. "You know, Darcie, we've been engaged for a while now and I'm wondering if you are ever going to marry me."

"That's a silly question," she giggled. "I would never have agreed to marry you if I didn't intend to go through with it."

"That's good news," he pretended to breathe a sigh of relief. "But when are we going to get married? Mum is pestering me about it. She wants to know if we can have it at the Burrow and if it's going to be a spring wedding."

"This spring? That's only months away," Darcie looked uncomfortable.

"Yes, but it wouldn't be a big wedding. Probably just my family as I'm almost certain your family wouldn't come watch you marry a blood traitor," he tried to lighten the mood.

"No. I think we should wait," she replied firmly.

"Why?" He demanded; he knew there was more to what she was saying than the actual words coming out of her mouth. "I know you're keeping something from me, Darcie Burke."

"It's nothing," she waved his curious glance aside.

"It's something," he contradicted.

"Let me get the roast out and we'll discuss this properly," she bent over and removed the dish from the oven.

"It's out, now you have to tell me. And do not skip a single bit," he instructed.

"I don't want to have a winter wedding because I don't want to look fat in my wedding dress. It's supposed to be the most important day of my life and I don't want to look ghastly," she explained, not meeting his eye.

"You're not fat!" He tilted her face so they were looking eye to eye.

"Not yet," she frowned.

"Why would you get fat then?" He wondered.

"Charlie, I'm going to have a baby," she moaned, exasperated.

"A…baby?" Suddenly he found himself wishing he did not know why she was being evasive, wanting to stuff the words back into her. But like Pandora's box, her mouth had opened and he could not get anything back into it.

"I'm pregnant," she nodded, smiling in spite of the tears gathered in her eyes.

"That's fantastic!" Nothing else mattered except her right now and she was happy so Charlie intended to keep it that way. "We're having a baby!"

"Yes," she grinned at him, clearly a burden had been removed from her shoulders.

"This is the best news I've heard since you agreed to marry me! How do you know? Are you sure?" He was full of excitement, and nerves, and questions.

"Well, I missed my course last month which is not really unusual for someone as skinny as I am, but it's late this month and you know I've not been feeling well," she informed.

"Well, shouldn't we get married as soon as possible, then?"

"No! I don't know how soon I'll put on weight. Please, Charlie, I don't want to look gigantic on the biggest day of my life."

"Of course not," he took her in his arms like he always did to comfort her. "Mum is going to kill us for having a baby out of wedlock, you know."

"I know. But we'll explain my vanity and that she's going to be a grandmother, and I'm sure everything will be smoothed over," she was grinning at him so widely he thought her cheeks might split.

"I guess we really have need of that nursery now," he joked.

"We did say it would one day be used," she reminded.

"Yes, but I didn't think it would be so soon. I mean, you're only just out of school—you're eighteen for heavens' sake—and studying to become a Healer. And I'm only a few years older and I never really gave children very much thought. I guess I always thought I would have kids, I never really pictured myself as the paternal figure, but you just assume…"he was babbling.

"Charlie, calm down," she put a hand on his forearm. "We have plenty of time to prepare for this baby. Seven months or so."

"Seven months doesn't seem that long all of a sudden," he beamed at her, "but it'll do."

"Good, because I don't see that we have much of a choice anymore," she laughed. "It's coming, whether we're ready or not, love."

"Mum really is going to kill us," that was Charlie's biggest concern. "And she's going to kill me for getting you pregnant already. Then she'll kill you for keeping it from her. Then she'll have to bring us back to life to take care of the thing. The baby."

"Your dad will be happy, won't he?" She looked concerned and Charlie realized he had scared her.

"Oh, yes. And the twins will be thrilled to have another little one to corrupt," he chuckled.

"Will he or she go to Hogwarts?" She looked serious.

"If Dumbledore will have him, he'll go," Charlie promised.

"Do you want it to be a boy?" Darcie looked at him sharply.

"No, it's just easier to say him than he or she and him or her. If it's a girl, she'll be my princess," he swore. "My dad couldn't love Ginny better than I would love our daughter."

"Okay," she gave him a nervous smile. "I'm excited."

"Me, too," he kissed her.

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Another chapter churned out. I really hope you liked it. There's a bunch of stuff happening in the next few chapters you're not going to want to miss. Thank you for reading!


	24. Chapter 24

I know I've already written two endings to this story, but I've been watching and rereading Harry Potter and I was inspired to write a new, proper ending to my tale. Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think!

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Charlie had been right about his mother's reaction to his and Darcie's wonderful news—Molly was ecstatic at the prospect of her first grandchild's birth; Arthur was very happy for them, but he was always worried about goings on at the Ministry and he was busy with all of Dumbledore's instructions for the Order of the Phoenix. The twins and Lee had sent a letter with their congratulations tinged with complaints about Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Bill had done likewise, Ginny had written directly to Darcie, and Ron had not mentioned anything to anyone about it. Darcie wrote to Percy with the good news and thus far there had been absolutely no word in response, she was very upset about this and Charlie had no way of making her feel better.

"What're we going to name this baby?" Charlie inquired of his fiancée one evening as his hand rested on her belly, feeling the life inside her flutter.

"I've been thinking about that, you know," she replied. "I like the name Sidra if she's a girl and I was hoping Arthur if he's a boy. What do you think?"

"You want Arthur for a boy?" He was a little taken aback. "You have no other names?"

"Charlie, I love your father, he's one of the greatest men I've ever met. Would you like to bandy about a couple of names?" Darcie offered.

"No," he shook his head. "I love what you've chosen."

"You do?" Her face brightened from the confusion it had registered at his reaction to her boy name.

"I do. My father will be honoured," he kissed her. "His first grandchild and he'd be the namesake. Why not Molly for a girl?"

"I thought about it, but I'm not sure your mum would approve. Your dad wouldn't care, but your mum might be a bit touchy. Also, I just really love the name Sidra. She'd understand, right?"

"Darcie, it's our baby, Mum would get it. Besides, she's going to be tickled pink just to be a grandmother," Charlie assured her.

"The twins are going to be disappointed we won't name it Fred or Georgina," she rolled her eyes.

"It wouldn't be fair to the other," he said diplomatically.

"No, I suppose not. Any post today?" She sounded as though she was trying to keep her voice light.

"Percy's not written, Darcie," he immediately knew what she was hoping.

"I know," she sighed. "A girl can hope, can't she?"

"I just don't want you getting your hopes up only for that ass to dash them," Charlie explained his point of view to her.

"You do such a good job of protecting me," she beamed at him.

"I'm trying," he swelled with pride. "Why do you care so much about Percy's silence anyway? He's my brother and I'm glad to be shot of the git. If he feels that way, we don't need him around, my love."

"I miss him," she murmured. "You don't understand our friendship because you only know him as a brother. I trusted Percy with a part of my heart and one's heart can be a tricky thing."

"I'm sorry. I suppose I never thought of it that way," he stroked her hair. "You could always go talk to him. I'm sure he wouldn't refuse to see you in person."

"You would let me fly all the way to Britain whilst pregnant with your child to see your angry brother while Voldemort has regained his powers and is running around the country?" She asked wryly.

"You make an excellent point," he would have laughed if it had not been such a serious scenario. "You are staying right here where I can keep an eye on you."

"Gladly," she snuggled against him.

"I want you to keep your mind off of Percy, though," he told her sternly. "The stress and anxiety of the whole situation cannot be healthy for you or our baby."

"I'm going to clear my mind of it," she nodded. "If Percy does not want to be a part of our family, I can't force him."

"That's my girl," he patted her hand. "Hey, how's the nursery coming along? I haven't been in there in a week—strict orders."

"Of course I've given you strict orders not to go in there. I'm making it a proper nursery and I don't need any input," she explained. "You do trust me?"

"That's a stupid question," he rolled his eyes. "I just wish I had some say in what it's going to look like. This is my home, too, and my baby."

"You'll love it, I promise," she smiled mysteriously.

"I know I will, but you know I'm curious," he sighed.

"I know. It's such fun leaving you in suspense, though," she laughed. "You'll be able to see it when it's ready. Which should be soon, I've been working on it almost non-stop."

"Another effort that can't be healthy for the baby," he raised his eyebrow.

"I didn't paint—that's all that could harm the baby," she replied. "I'm happy doing it, Charlie, please don't make me stop."

"When have I ever asked you to stop doing something? Especially something that makes you happy?" He shook his head.

"Just rub it in, how good you are to me. And here I am, not even letting you enter a part of your own house," she teased.

"You're doing something important, I respect that," he just shook his head. "Do what you want and I know it'll be brilliant."

They had peace for a few weeks until the winter came upon them. Darcie finished the nursery and Charlie had to admit he'd never seen a more beautiful room and he knew she had put a lot of effort into it. It was painted a pale green (he had already known that because he had done the painting), but she had obviously hired someone to paint stars and the moon on the ceiling because when he looked up they were staring him in the face. There was a white wooden crib against one wall, a nappy changing station across the room from it, and in one corner of the room sat a white-washed rocking chair. Charlie was impressed and he told Darcie so, she looked thrilled at the praise.

Their joy over the nursery's completion and the baby in general was short-lived because at the end of December, Mrs. Weasley sent them a note back with their owl, having sent Christmas greetings to the family, telling them there had been a terrible accident and Mr. Weasley was in St. Mungo's. Darcie was very worked up over the incident and tried to convince Charlie they needed to return to England to see his family, but Charlie would have none of it. When she persisted, he lost his temper a little, but put down his foot.

"We're not going, Darcie. You're in no fit state to travel," he snapped, not meaning to sound so harsh, but he had things on his mind that were weighing on him.

"I _want_ to go, Charlie," she insisted. "Your father would want to see you."

"My father would want me to keep my family safe. Voldemort is out there _and_ you're pregnant—how am I supposed to keep you safe if you go running into danger?" He demanded.

"I'm hardly in danger—I'm a pure-blood for all anyone knows, and a Burke," she retorted.

"You're carrying the child of a blood-traitor. Come off it, we're not going."

"Then you go," she suggested. "I'll be safe here. I have Lucy and wand."

"I'm not leaving you," he said testily. "I'll send a letter to my parents and maybe we'll go see them once the baby is born."

"Fine," she crossed her arms.

"Trust me, this is the best way," he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"I trust you, I'm just not sure I believe you," she frowned.

"You're going to have to try," he encouraged.

A few weeks later they received a letter from Charlie's parents assuring them Arthur would make a full recovery and Charlie knew he had been right to keep Darcie with him in Romania. Darcie had been just as relieved as Charlie and was happy until a few weeks after Christmas and Percy's gift came back, unopened and without even a note. Charlie was furious with his brother and this time almost went to England to give his brother a piece of his mind, but Darcie said it was not worth it.

~:+:~

One day, a few months after Christmas, Charlie was sleeping deeply when Darcie woke him with a shove. His eyes flew open and he stared at her, not sure what was happening. She was speaking to him very quickly and nothing was making its way from his ears to his brain to register what she was saying.

"Come again?" He asked.

"I'm in labour," she repeated.

Darcie was in labour and Charlie was in shock. The baby was coming a month early and they were completely unprepared for the bundle of joy. Charlie was feeling the most mixed emotions he had ever experienced.

"Charlie, I'm going to need some help here. And soon," Darcie's voice broke into his terrified thoughts.

"Right. What do I do?" He worried his lower lip.

"Get the midwife," she urged frantically.

"Oh. Right. Do I have time to dress?" He knew he had completely lost his head, but Darcie's seemed to still be level.

"Of course," she sighed. "Just be quick about it."

"Okay," he began when he was dressed. "I'll be back before you notice I'm gone. Don't miss me too much."

"I think I have a little more on my mind than missing you right about now," she squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'll be back soon," he kissed her.

"Try for faster than that, please," she requested.

The midwife with whom they had been working lived only a few blocks away so Charlie decided not to bother with his broomstick, but he did run all the way there. The midwife opened the door and looked at him in surprise. He explained to her the situation and that Darcie would be able to hold a better conversation in the midwife's first language.

"Charlie?" Darcie's voice was thin and high-pitched.

"I'm here! I have someone with me!" Charlie called out to her.

"A midwife? If you didn't bring me someone to help with this baby, you had better leave right now!"

The midwife yelled out something in Romanian that Charlie barely understood and Darcie yelled back in Romanian so the whole conversation was lost on him. "You stay here," the midwife nodded at him.

"No way," Charlie protested. "This is my baby and I'm going to be there. I'm coming, too."

"Fine, but be helpful," the woman looked annoyed, but allowed Charlie to lead her to the bathroom where Darcie was waiting for them.

"Thank god you're here," Darcie was paler than usual as she was lying the tub.

Darcie and the midwife spoke for a few minutes about how the contractions were progressing. Charlie followed parts of the discussion, but he was busy wondering whether they were going to have a boy or a girl and if Darcie was going to be all right. She was smiling, though, which warmed Charlie's heart.

"Charlie, I'm not dying," Darcie told him, "you could smile a little. She says the baby's crowning. This is happening!"

"I'm so excited," he took her hand in his and kissed it. "Our first baby."

"First?" Darcie looked startled.

"Well, I guess I thought we'd have more," he shrugged.

"Please, let's just get through this one," she begged.

The birth was the most magical thing Charlie had ever witnessed (and that is saying something when one works with magic every day) and probably the most disgusting. But, at the end of it, they had a six pound baby boy they named Arthur, he had blue eyes and a tuft of light red hair on the back of his head. Charlie was even able to cut the umbilical cord himself. The midwife left once she was certain both mother and baby were healthy and she seemed impressed with Charlie's devotion to his small family.

He knew his son was only hours old, but Charlie had never loved anyone as much as baby Arthur at that moment. Darcie was the love of his life, but when the baby opened his big blue eyes that were fringed with brown lashes and looked at Charlie, his heart melted. Darcie slept for the rest of the day except when Arthur needed to be fed.

The first few weeks of Arthur's life were the best of Charlie's. He and Darcie were equally smitten with their baby and it felt like their family was finally complete. They were happy, truly happy.

"You know, Charlie, there's only one thing to make this perfect," Darcie spoke up one afternoon.

"I know," he nodded and kissed her cheek.

"We could get married. The summer would be nice," she mused.

"In a couple months, we'll get married," he promised.


	25. Chapter 25

Charlie was looking forward to returning home for his upcoming wedding. It had been a while since he had seen much of his family and it was high time they had a reunion. Darcie had insisted on the smallest wedding they could manage without offending too many people.

Lee was the only non-family-member to be invited to the wedding which did not sit well with everyone—mainly Bill's girlfriend, Fleur. Bill had written to Charlie a number of times hinting pointedly that Fleur would love to attend and Charlie had, as a dutiful brother, passed on the information to Darcie. She said she would love to meet Fleur, but was adamant their wedding would be close relations and Lee; so Charlie had to write back to his brother with the bad news. Darcie had written a long, flowing, lovely letter to Fleur explaining her reasoning, but Charlie had seen the anger of the Veela at the Quidditch World Cup and wondered if Darcie would be invited to Fleur and Bill's wedding.

It was to be a summer wedding so Darcie could be (in her own words) vain and lose the weight she had gained while carrying Arthur. Molly was planning the wedding for them because there were arrangements that needed to be made in England that neither Charlie nor Darcie could make. They busied themselves preparing for the long journey they were going to have to make. It was not going to be easy flying with a baby, but they could think of no easier way to transport all three of them to the Burrow. It took a number of days to get from Romania to Britain and frequent stops, but they arrived and were immediately welcomed back into the fold.

The Burrow was packed to the gills with Weasleys in for the wedding. Ron and Ginny were home for the summer, neither of them particularly the worse for wear after their battle at the Ministry of Magic, Fred and George were in from Diagon Alley, and Bill had moved back from Egypt to help with the Order. The only person not there was Percy who had sent his invitation, like his Christmas present, back unopened; Darcie had cried for two hours.

"Charlie!" Molly cried as she flung open the door of the Burrow and wrapped him in a large hug. "Darcie, how lovely to see you. And where is my grandson?"

"He's right here, Mum," Charlie presented baby Arthur to her. The child had just woken up from a long nap and stared placidly at his grandmother. "Is Dad here?"

"No. Your father, Bill, and the twins will all be home tonight, though, for the big celebration," she, still holding the baby, ushered him and Darcie into the house. "Ginny and Ron are here, though."

"Lovely," Darcie exclaimed.

"Do I hear voices?" Ginny shouted from the top of the stairs.

"No, Gin, you've gone mad," Charlie yelled back.

"Charlie and Darcie are here, Ron!" Ginny fairly screamed up to him. "Darcie!"

"Hullo, Ginny," Darcie hugged her soon to be sister-in-law.

"And where's the baby?" Ginny demanded. "I see you've given him to Mum, you'll never get him back now, Darcie."

"We've been flying for days, she can have him for a few hours," Darcie told Ginny and Ron who had just bounded down the stairs.

"Hello, Charlie, Darcie," Ron nodded at them both.

"Come here, you," Charlie grabbed his younger, but taller, brother in a hug.

"Now, you two should rest. I expect you've been awake the whole time listening for the baby, Darcie, while Charlie's been flying," Molly bustled around them.

"I would love to have a bit of a nap, thanks, Molly," Darcie nodded.

"Bill's in your old room, Charlie, so I thought you two wouldn't want to be in there with him. Oh, we have so many empty rooms these days I could've put you anywhere. The twins will be in their room, so I thought you two could have Percy's room," everyone went rather tense at the mention of Percy, but Molly perked back up as baby Arthur started cooing happily.

"Thanks, Mum," Charlie kissed her on the cheek and he and Darcie started up the stairs.

Bill, Arthur Sr., Fred, and George all arrived at once that evening and the celebrating began; Fred and George were anxious to see Darcie, Arthur wanted to see the baby, and Bill had been looking forward to seeing Charlie again. Everyone took turns passing around baby Arthur and exclaiming how precious he was and Ginny, whom Charlie had never thought of as particularly maternal, seemed very taken with him. Eventually, the twins stole away with Darcie and Charlie was left in the sitting room with his parents, Bill, and his son.

"Looking forward to tomorrow, mate?" Bill wondered.

"Of course he is," Molly burst in. "He's only been in love with the girl since she was eleven years old."

"That long, Mum?" Charlie looked at her reproachfully.

"How long have you known her?" Molly winked.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Charlie admitted.

"Well, we're glad you're doing the right thing by her," Mr. Weasley spoke not only to Charlie, but partly to the baby sitting on his lap, looking up at him with interest.

"We just had to get to it our own way," Charlie hated feeling like he had to explain himself.

"Took you long enough," Bill sniggered.

"We've gotten here now," Charlie was getting warm with annoyance and his prayers for leaving the discomfort of the conversation were answered when Darcie, Fred, and George walked in from wherever they had been.

"Oh, hello, everyone," Darcie smiled at them all politely and then turned to Charlie. "I'm exhausted, darling, shall we call it a night?"

"Wonderful idea," Charlie nodded.

"Good night to you all," Darcie bade them, picking up her son from his grandfather's arms.

"Night, Mum, Dad, Bill, Fred, George," Charlie smiled at everyone and followed his fiancée to their room.

"Are we ready?" Darcie inquired of Charlie as they lay in bed a few minutes later. Charlie, Darcie, and baby Arthur were lying in Percy's bedroom.

"I am," Charlie vowed. "You had better be. If I'm standing up there, I'm going to be expecting you to come down that aisle."

"I'm coming down the aisle. You know I am," she rolled her eyes.

"You need to prepare me now if Bill and I are going to be the only ones up there," he teased.

"Charlie, even though we've been together for years and you're the father of my child, I'm not going to marry you tomorrow," she said seriously.

"Good to know," he nodded. "I'm going to go up and let Mum and Dad in on the bad news."

"No!" She squealed.

"Ah, rethinking your hasty dismissed of me?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Maybe," she smiled coyly.

"What a relief. Guess the wedding's back on, my dear," he kissed her.

"I hope so," she snuggled close to him. "Do you remember when we used to sleep like this in _your_ bed?"

"I wanted to keep you from having your night terrors, I never tried anything funny!" He wanted that on the record.

"I wasn't saying you did," she said soothingly. "It feels strange to be in Percy's bed."

"It does. It could be worse, though, we could be in my and Bill's room with him," Charlie grinned. "How romantic would that be?"

"Deeply romantic," she agreed.

"Not that it's easy to feel romantic in Percy's bed," he said as an afterthought.

"Oh, goodness, no," she shook her head emphatically.

"Did Percy ever, you know, try anything with you?" Charlie had always wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Really?" Darcie's eyes popped. "Percy try anything with me? You would've torn him limb from limb, no?"

"Of course I would've. I'd've killed any of my brothers," he laughed.

"Don't say that!" She begged. "You didn't touch Oliver Wood."

"And trust me, that was not for lack of wanting," he growled. "So none of my brothers was in love with you?"

"As far as I know, we've only covered one brother tonight," she replied mysteriously.

"So another one of my brothers has professed his love for you?" He asked, a little shocked.

"Never you mind," she tapped him on the nose.

"You have to tell me now," he urged.

"I can't as he'd kill me and you'd kill him," she shook her head.

"I'm not a violent person, Darcie, just one hint," he beseeched her.

"Nope. Charlie, do you really want to know about this the night before our wedding?" At that moment, he was spared answering and she was spared any further questioning by baby Arthur waking up and bawling for food.

~:+:~

Charlie awoke on his wedding day before the sun had even risen and looked over at Darcie who was sitting up in bed already awake. She looked over at him and shook her head, he knew that she was unable to say anything and he hoped it was nerves versus dismay at what was about to happen. He had no desire to break the silence as it had taken a long while to get Arthur to sleep the night before and Charlie was glad there had been charms cast on the room so they would not have kept the rest of the household awake. Darcie crawled back under the covers and Charlie put his arms around her. They lay that way until the sun started poking out over the horizon and they heard Molly moving around the house.

"Good morning, my boy," Molly looked like she was about to burst into tears as she hugged Charlie.

"Mum, don't cry," he pleaded. "It's just a wedding."

"It's the first wedding!" She explained. "I'll be fine, just sit down and eat."

"Hello, Molly," Darcie descended the stairs carefully with baby Arthur in her arms.

"Oh, Darcie," the other woman took the baby. "How are you today. No cold feet I hope."

"Of course not," Darcie laughed. "I would never dream of it."

"Good, because it's too late to back out now. Eat, you're always so skinny. Are you sure you had a baby?" Molly demanded.

"You're very kind," Darcie went slightly pink.

"I'm not sure that was a compliment," Charlie whispered as Mrs. Weasley piled eggs, sausages, and bacon on Darcie's plate.

"Oh," Darcie's colour deepened even further.

"Darcie!" George boomed as he came down the stairs. "Are you going to eat all that?"

"No—please help yourself," Darcie speared a sausage on her fork and handed it to him.

"Feeding another man on your wedding day, how fickle, Darcie," Fred quickly followed his brother downstairs.

"Charlie knows George is no threat," she laughed.

"Never have been," he winked.

"Everyone eat and then bathe—we have a big day ahead. Yes we do," Molly re-entered the kitchen chattering to baby Arthur.

A few hours later, Charlie was in his dress robes had been kicked out of the house so Ginny and Molly could prepare Darcie for the wedding. He, Bill, and the twins waited outside in the garden while their female relatives did God knows what to Darcie inside. The twins seemed to have very little to say that day and Charlie could have used some of their antics to blow off some steam. Then it was time for Bill and Charlie to take their places in front of the seats.

Ginny, dressed in navy blue, preceded Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pushing baby Arthur in a golden pram between the rows of chairs. The twins walked arm in arm with Darcie down the aisle and Charlie's breath caught as his eyes landed on his bride. Her light brown hair was piled on her head, adorned with small flowers, and she was dressed in a flowing white dress. She was smiling broadly at Charlie as she tried to step in time with the twins' shorter strides and Bill nudged him in the ribs, also grinning.

"Hi," Darcie whispered when she had reached him.

"Hi," Charlie breathed in response.

"We're going to do this?" She asked.

"Ready when you are," he nodded and took her hands in his.

~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~:+:~

And that is the ending of my story. I think it is a much better one than the previous two. I hope everyone agrees with me. Thanks for reading!


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